MCPS is pleased to share the Antiracist System Action Plan that was presented to the Board of Education during its business meeting on Thursday, May 11. The plan addresses the findings and recommendations in the Antiracist System Audit. 

The district’s action plan is designed to address five critical areas to achieve a racial equity vision as outlined by the audit: coherence, accountability, equity-centered capacity building, continuous data collection and relational trust. It serves as a roadmap to holistically implement policies, practices and structures necessary to eliminate racial disparities and remove barriers that impact the district’s most marginalized groups.

The Antiracist System Action Plan includes action steps and timelines, and is organized into three sections:

• System-level actions: Districtwide structures and coherency that are vital to ensuring schools have the support, tools and oversight necessary to make changes. 
• Domain-specific actions: Based on key focus areas identified as part of the audit for areas of improvement by families and employees of color. 
• School-level actions: Plans for schools to help identify areas of improvement targeting the most underserved students.

To view the final report, visit the Antiracist Audit webpage, and learn about ways to provide feedback.

Background

In the fall of 2020, MCPS embarked on the Antiracist System Audit because racial and ethnic disparities are seen in almost every area of the school district, including reading levels, participation in higher-level classes, graduation rates, suspension and discipline rates, and staffing. 

MCPS issued a request for proposals in the fall of 2020 and a committee of students, staff and families reviewed the proposals. MAEC was selected and began work in December 2020. Because the goal of the audit is to look across the whole system, MAEC was asked to analyze the school district in the following six areas, referred to as domains in the final report: 

• School culture
• Workforce diversity
• Work conditions
• Pre-K–12 curriculum
• Community relations and engagement
• Equity of access

The development of the comprehensive plan underwent an extensive engagement process and feedback was incorporated into the specific strategies, measures and milestones of the audit and action plan.

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