Important message from District 88

Pictured is District 88 Superintendent Dr. Scott Helton.

The past few days have been full of emotion, as our country, communities, families and students have been deeply impacted by the tragic death of George Floyd. In District 88, we also reflect on the tragic death and loss of one of our own, Sandra Bland (Willowbrook alumna, class of 2005), in 2015. The frustration is that the deaths of Sandra and George are not isolated. We have witnessed other deaths throughout our country that were the result of racism. We are traumatized because of the extreme cruelty, damage and loss of life perpetuated by racism.

But it isn’t enough to say we embrace diversity and that racism is wrong. We must explore what and how we are teaching – through our curriculum, our actions and our school policies – and commit to improving. We have been committed to creating and sustaining an equitable and inclusive environment for all students through Deep Equity and Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Youth Equity Stewardship (YES!) series for more than half a decade. We have put in place many programs to support inclusion and equity. We know equity is a journey and won’t be reached quickly or easily. However, we need to be relentless in our pursuit of equity, inclusion and the elimination of racism in District 88 and our communities.

Throughout this week, I participated in conversations with students and staff to hear their voices, pain and concerns related to a local incident as we continue our path forward to improve and grow together. Yesterday, I observed an incredible partnership between the Village of Addison and District 88 alumni who organized a Black Lives Matter protest, rally and march, along with the citizens who came out to exercise their freedom to speak and provide their voices to challenge inequities and injustices. Many current and former students from District 88 organized and worked with local authorities to create an environment to support a peaceful and powerful demonstration.

Currently, we are working with several national consultants to support our next steps. We are focusing on the areas of Equity, Restorative Practices and Trauma-Informed Practices. We are working with Dr. Gary Howard, Benjie Howard and Wade Antonio-Colwell to plan equity-based conversations, events and activities for our students, staff, parents/guardians and community members. We also will host events with Kevin Jones on Restorative Practices and Dr. Melissa Sadin on Trauma-Informed Practices. Details will be shared as soon as possible – please stay tuned.

District 88 Assistant Superintendent Dr. Jean Barbanente is co-facilitating the DuPage County Equity and Excellence Committee and also is implementing and directing the District C.A.R.E. Team (Committed to Academics, Resiliency, and Equity) to expand and deepen our work in Deep Equity, Youth Equity Stewardship, Trauma-Informed Practices and Restorative Practices.

We must do better to teach our children – and ourselves – to be accountable and to value differences. We will continue to strive for equality and inclusion to ensure District 88 continuously improves for all students.

Sincerely,
Scott J. Helton, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools, DuPage High School District 88