LEARNING Millennium Learning Concepts reported in an equity audit conducted last year that African American, Hispanic and economically disadvantaged students in Cy-Fair ISD lagged behind their white and more a uent peers academically. SOURCES: CY FAIR ISD, TEXAS EDUCATION AGENCY COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
Equity audit highlights student disparities in Cy-Fair ISD, board of trustees divided in response
BY DANICA LLOYD
to conduct the audit, which reported Black, Hispanic and economically disadvantaged students lagged behind their peers academically and Black students were disproportion- ately disciplined in CFISD. Another gap the audit identi- ed was in sta ng diversity. “MLC highlighted that the diversity of the CFISD stu- dent body is not represented by the demographic makeup of CFISD professional sta and leadership,” said Onica Mayers, CFISD’s director of employee relations and pro- fessional sta ng. “Hispanic or Latino students and Asian students do not see teach- ers and leaders across CFISD who look like them and share their cultural backgrounds.” The three new trustees elected in November—Natalie Blasingame, Scott Henry and Lucas Scanlon—expressed their disappointment in both the resolution and in the equity audit. The resolution was being reworked with their input as of January. Meanwhile, Cy-Fair res- idents and elected o cials have called for the resigna- tion of Scott Henry for com- ments made about Black teachers his second month in o ce. At the Jan. 10 work session, he called the audit a “pile of rubbish” and a “heap of junk” and said he did not
want CFISD to be like Hous- ton ISD, which he noted has a higher dropout rate and per- centage of Black teachers. Video clips of his com- ments were shared thou- sands of times on social media, and the trustee lost his job with California-based IT company Splunk as a result, according to a Jan. 14 tweet from the company. “The statewide average for Black teachers is 10%. Hous- ton ISD—which y’all used [as] a shining example—you know what their average number of percentage of Black teachers is? Thirty-six percent. I looked that up. Know what their dropout rate is? Four percent. I don’t want to be 4%. I don’t want to be HISD,” Scott Henry said. “I want to be a shining example. I want to be the dis- trict standard. I want to be the place—the premium place where people go to be.” While the board reviewed recommendations outlined by MLC, trustees took no immediate action in response to the audit. Adiverse district Thousands of students and sta members completed surveys or participated in small-group interviews to give MLC a better under- standing of school cul- ture and existing equitable
An equity and culture audit conducted in Cy-Fair ISD last year revealed districtwide discrepancies in academics, discipline and representation among sta . Members of the school board are divided on the dis- trict’s e orts to become more equitable and whether the audit was necessary. Trustee Julie Hinaman said the results of the audit may have been uncomfortable, but the point of it was to learn ways the dis- trict could improve. “We’re very blessed in Cy-Fair ISD to be a high-performing, very e - cient, scally responsible role model of a school district in Texas, but we aren’t satis- ed with that. … The purpose of the equity audit was to nd out where are those places we can get better to better serve all of our kids,” she said at a Jan. 10 work session. Hinaman helped write the resolution condemn- ing racism the school board unanimously signed in Sep- tember 2020, which called for an equity audit to help the board close opportunity and achievement gaps among dif- ferent student groups. CFISD spent $75,000 to hire Millennium Learning Concepts, a Kentucky-based educational consulting rm,
All students Economically disadvantaged Black
Hispanic White
State average
READING AND MATH White students in CFISD performed better than their Black and Hispanic peers on the 2021 State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness.
100%
68%
80%
66%
60%
40%
20%
0%
MATH
READING
GRADUATION RATES An average of 93.6% of CFISD’s class of 2020 graduated on time compared to 90.9% of the Black students in that group.
90.3%
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
Black
Hispanic/Latino White Asian Other
0%
The equity audit found Black students are suspended at a higher rate than other racial and ethnic groups. Data shown is from the 2020-21 school year. SOURCES: CY FAIR ISD, TEXAS EDUCATION AGENCY COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER DISCIPLINE discrepancies
ADVANCED PLACEMENT PARTICIPATION
The percentages of CFISD juniors and seniors taking AP courses in 2020 fell behind the state average in every group except white students.
In-school suspension
Student population
Out-of-school suspension
30%
22%
25%
“DISCIPLINE TRENDS SHOWTHAT BLACK AND AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDENTS IN CFISD ARE SUSPENDED AT ELEVATED RATES, AND THAT TAKES AWAY LEARNING TIME AND LIMITS THEIR ACADEMIC POTENTIAL.” ONICA MAYERS, CFISD’S DIRECTOR OF EMPLOYEE RELATIONS AND PROFESSIONAL STAFFING
20%
15%
10%
0%
30
COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER • COMMUNITYIMPACT.COM
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