Skip to main content
Our Program » Equity Council

Equity Council

THRIVE Community School Equity Council
THRIVE Community School will establish an Equity Council with the purpose of advising the school on actions, solutions, and implementation of a culturally and linguistically responsive school framework that holds students’ identity, culture, and language central to every design aspect of THRIVE Community school and in the work that we do as an LEA every day. If there is already a current charter school consortium established in Santa Fe, THRIVE will join the consortium to better leverage resources, share best practices, and meet the needs of students. If a consortium is joined, THRIVE will finalize its membership through Memoranda of Understanding.
 
The following PED guidelines on Equity Council development and membership will be followed:
  • The Executive Director will appoint the Equity Council Coordinator by October1st of each School Year
  • If more than one Governing Board member is selected to participate in the Equity Council, the member will ensure that the provisions of the Open Meetings Act are followed, particularly to the establishment of a quorum
  • Recruitment efforts will include: solicitation of representatives from THRIVE Community School, THRIVE staff and leadership team, students, parents, and community members; a request for volunteers posted on the THRIVE Community School Website; and Electronic and hard copy applications; if multiple member representation happens, a scoring guide will be used to review applications for the council seat that may include the following Understanding of our community, availability, and understanding of and prior experience with equity work
  • Total membership of the council includes no more than fifteen members and no less than five, serving staggered terms; if our council is even-numbered, half of the members will serve three-year terms and the remainder will serve four-year terms
  • Equity Council membership includes: school leadership; staff; students; parents/family members; community members; members of nations, Tribes and/or Pueblos; half of this membership must also represent Students with Special Needs, Native American students, students who are English learners, and economically disadvantaged students
  • The process for recruiting and appointing council members will be fair and transparent and posted on THRIVE Community School’s website.
  • Membership will directly reflect the school population by ethnicity; at this time, we will use the current enrollment data from Santa Fe Public School District to estimate our percentages of total enrollment at .8% Black or African American, 80% Hispanic, 2% Asian/Native Hawaiian/ Pacific Islander, 16% White
  • Duration of meeting and number of meetings will be determined by the Equity Council and will be based upon the the need to meet Equity Council and CLR requirements

THRIVE Community School Equity Council work includes:
  • Completion of the required Martinez/Yazzie Readiness Assessment
  • Creation of the School Equity Plan to support school alignment with the PED culturally and linguistically responsive (CLR) goals for improving outcomes for at-risk students, Native American students, Students with Special Needs, students who are English learners, and economically disadvantaged students; this plan will be uploaded to NM Dash
  • Creation and implementation of a culturally and linguistically responsive (CLR) framework that improves academic outcomes for at-risk students, Native American students, Students with Special Needs, students who are English learners, and economically disadvantaged students
  • Creating a report to describe THRIVE’s system for, and tracking of, funding and uses of funding to improve outcomes for at-risk students, Native American students, Students with Special Needs, students who are English learners, and economically disadvantaged students
  • Reporting out all findings and completion of required tasks to the school leadership team and Governing Board
  • Empower teachers to implement CLR practices using the framework
 
Selecting and Appointing Equity Council Members
THRIVE Community School is committed to ensuring that our annual process for selecting and appointing Equity Council members is transparent. The selection and appointment of Equity Council members will be execute using the following guidelines: 
  • Those who are interested in serving on or nominating someone to serve on THRIVE’s Equity Council, can do so on our website (See: Our Approach>Equity Council). 
  • The Equity Council Coordinator will review applications and statements of interest from August 1st - September 15th.  
  • The Equity Council Coordinator will use the Equity Council Membership Selection Rubric (see below) to evaluate the qualifications and fit based on the needs, and demographics of THRIVE Community School’s which will be determined once enrollment has been confirmed in the month of August. 
  • Equity Council applicants who (1) score a 4 or 5 on the Selection Rubric, and (2) reflect our school’s ethnicity profile, will be considered finalists for membership on the Equity Council.  
  • In the event that there are more qualified applicants than seats, the Equity Council Coordinator will use their discretion in selecting and appointing equity council members. The Equity Council may not exceed 15 members. The Equity Council Coordinator does not count as one of the 15 members.
  • The total number of Equity Council members will be determined by the Equity Council coordinator and the needs of the school.
  • All applicants will be notified no later than October 1st if they have been selected as a member of THRIVE’s Equity Council.
  • All other selection criteria will be guided by the information provided by the Public Education Department on their Frequently Asked Questions page.
  • In the event that the Equity Council Coordinator is unable to fulfill their duties, the Executive Director will manage the responsibilities until a replacement Coordinator can be found.
  • In the event that a vacancy becomes available on the Equity Council after the work of the equity council has begun, the Equity Council Coordinator can choose to fill the vacancy through a direct appointment or wait to fill the vacancy until the following school year.
 
Antiracism and Anti Oppression Hotline and information link