School Board Letter on Oppression
To our Piedmont community—
On a regular basis, terrible incidents take place that leave us feeling sorrow and dismay. As with so many across our country, we have been outraged and heartbroken by the ongoing losses and acts of injustice in the last weeks: Mr. Floyd, Mr. Auberey, Ms. Taylor, Mr. Cooper. They are reminders of systemic oppression that still occurs based on race, religion, culture, gender, orientation, identity. And as mothers who have sent our children out into the world with a lot of faith and no small amount of worry, it is unfathomable and heart wrenching to even imagine how much more frightening it must be for parents whose children are identified somehow as other and have to have some version of “The Talk” because oppression and injustice still occur.
Our educational community stands for equity, justice, dignity, respect, and empathy. We reaffirm our dedication to honoring and celebrating what makes us similar and different. We recognize, too, that while we teach and serve in this community with good intent, we each must continue to recognize and address our own implicit biases, using that work to have and to elevate our discussions and actions.
To all our community, but especially to our students, teachers, and staff of color, we stand with you. Who you are is important to us and we support you.
With respect,
Cory Smegal
Megan Pillsbury
Andrea Swenson
Sarah Pearson