‘The time to act on this ongoing crisis is now’
Grassroots group forms to advocate for Stamford’s Black students
STAMFORD — Speaker after speaker at a recent Stamford Board of Education meeting said something needs to be done to narrow the education achievement gap for Black students.
The need has driven community members from across Stamford to form a group called Alliance for Black Achievement, with a goal of partnering with the school district to set an agenda to improve Black student achievement and the Black student experience in the city.
“The time to act on this ongoing crisis is now, as community recognition of the problem and support of a solution is at an all-time high,” said Board of Representatives President Matthew Quinones, a member of the Alliance, during the board meeting late last month.
The alliance “evolved organically” over the years, said Edith Presley, a member of the group and currently a Stamford Public School employee and parent of two students in the district. Presley had been a co-principal at Roxbury Elementary School before her position was eliminated as part of drastic
“We’re a group of folks passionate about improving outcomes.” Edith Presley, member of the Alliance for Black Achievement
cuts because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Presley said the work started through informal conversations between community members and concern that so many Black Stamford students were being left behind. Eventually, the movement sparked a group that met regularly to discuss such issues.
“We’re a group of folks passionate about improving outcomes,” she said.
The members of the alliance come from all across the community, and include Quinones, Associate Superintendent for School Development Olympia Della Flora, and district employees, parent organization leaders and religious clergy.
During the board meeting last month, Presley provided data about the current achievement gap from the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills assessment.
According to the data, a fourth of Black third grade students scored in the lowest category, “below basic,” to begin this school year. And although that figure improved when the students were tested later in the school year, “It is apparent that our students are not making the necessary gains for college and career readiness,” she said.
“All of our students are spending the same 13 years in our schools,” Presley said. “Let’s partner together to (make sure) that all of our families are given the same return on investment.”
The achievement gap has been an ongoing struggle in Stamford and in much of the country, but the COVID-19 pandemic seems to have exacerbated the problem, she said.
During this school year, about 28 percent of all Black students in Stamford were listed as chronically absent — they missed at least 10 percent of all school days. That figure was 15 percent the same time the previous school year.
“COVID just kind of put a magnifying glass on the disparities and the opportunities that existed,” Presley said.
The alliance recently submitted four objectives to the Board of Education: implementing programs to promote Black student achievement, elevating the voice of parents of Black students, establishing the board as a partner in the alliance’s work and increasing the representation of Black teachers.
The teaching staff in Stamford still remains mostly white, even though the district is made up mostly of Hispanic students, data show.
About 45 percent of students in Stamford are Hispanic, while about 30 percent are white. But while Black students are about 14 percent of the entire student body, the percentage of Black students still outpaces the percentage of Black teachers.
Presley said Stamford employs 110 Black teachers, compared with 1,267 white educators.
Alliance members say they plan to establish subcommittees focused on each of the four objectives and come up with a formal action plan in the future.
The alliance is officially on the agenda for Tuesday’s meeting of the board’s teaching and learning committee, where the group’s goals will be further discussed.
“We see ourselves as a resource for the Board of Education and Stamford,” Presley said.