GUILDERLAND — The school district here continues to make progress in various ways on its initiatives to be inclusive and supportive of all students, the board heard at its March 28 meeting.

Superintendent Marie Wiles told the board that a March 24 school-wide assembly on hate speech, led by Matthew Pinchinat, the district’s coordinator of diversity, equity, and inclusion, was “very powerful.”

“He brought the topic to life in a very powerful way, really basing his talk out of the actual words of our students who have experienced some version of hate speech,” said Wiles. Pinchinat used that, she said, “to make sure every child, every student, every adult knows that they are valued and affirmed and cared about.”

Wiles said, “You could hear a pin drop for the entire 45 minutes of his talk,” and then high school students returned to homeroom “to reflect on what they heard.” She noted that Pinchinat’s counterparts from Niskayuna and Bethlehem attended because they “are hoping to replicate what we’ve done.”

School board Vice President Kelly Person asked about hearing a recording of the session. “We did not record it purposefully,” Wiles responded. Similarly, The Enterprise wasn’t allowed to cover the assembly.

A similar assembly is being planned for the middle school.

Wiles also said that, on March 17, the superintendent’s conference day had as a topic shared across all seven of the district’s school buildings presentations of “equity action plans” unique to each building.

She praised the teams for doing “a phenomenal job summarizing and synthesizing all the work they’ve been doing since summer with Progression Partners in our work with Natalie McGee.”

Progression Partners Inc., according to its website, “is a minority-owned business that services school districts across the nation in bridging the cultural gap. Our team of independent consultants provides support to meet the equity and inclusion initiatives and expectations … Our initiatives help shape decisions for K-12 education programs to ensure all stakeholders are working to improve equity in a diverse environment.”

McGee is the business’s chief executive officer. “She prides herself in combining research-based strategies and practical applications, working with school districts to customize professional learning based on the unique needs of the organization,” says the website.

A thoughtExchange, for anonymous online comments, was set up “so the building teams will have some specific feedback about each individual plan,” said Wiles, concluding, “I’m really proud of all that happened on that day.”

The board also heard from Nathan Sabourin, on the board’s policy committee, that a ThoughtExchange was set up for students “to get a sense of what they would like to see in an anti-hate policy.”

The two “big things” that came from that, Sabourin said, were that students wanted to see Eid recognized — the Muslim holiday is on the school calendar for next year — and that students want to see consequences for hate actions.

“It’s front of mind for us as well,” said Sabourin.

The committee reviewed a draft of the anti-hate policy, he said, and the next step will be “incorporating some of the better aspects or missing aspects from that anti-hate policy into our existing DEI policy.”

Board President Seema Rivera, who is on the policy committee, said that Pinchinat had come to the committee meetings and said that “a lot of the high school students have done a lot of this work before.” The goal is to have some policy changes made before the seniors who have been instrumental in bringing issues to light graduate.

Board member Katie DiPierro said the DEI Committee had discussed at length school field trips “and how we can make them more accessible for all students.”

Board member Blanca Gonzalez-Parker, who also serves on the DEI committee, said that part of the impetus for the discussion was how expensive field trips have become as well as the cost of dues for booster clubs and the cost of sports equipment..

DiPierro said the discussion also included “athletic access” and how to better support all students who want to compete.

Other business

In other business at its March 28 meeting, the Guilderland School Board:

— Heard from Rivera that petitions for school board candidates must be submitted to the district clerk by 5 p.m. on April 17. Each candidate must have at least 96 signatures of eligible voters, which is 2 percent of those voting in the last school election;

— Heard from Sabourin, a member of the board’s communications committee, that large, colored, tri-fold flyers will be sent out to publicize the budget and the committee had discussed having board members at upcoming school events to answer questions about the budget.

He also said, “We are doing a lot of social media actions to make people aware of what goes into our budget.” Since three-quarters of the budget pays for staff, “a social media blitz” will highlight different staff members, from custodians to teachers.

The first one, on bus drivers, will be released Monday, said Wiles, with one released every Monday after.

Guilderland has drafted a $120 million spending plan for next year, and the public vote on both the budget and on school board candidates is May 16; and

— Heard from Wiles that, since the district has used all three of its snow days, school will be in session on May 26. Memorial Day — observed this year on Monday, May 29 — is still a school holiday.