Frederick County Public Schools racial equity committee to refine anti‑racism policy ahead of policy committee review

Steve Bledis, chief legal counsel for Frederick County Public Schools, told the Racial Equity Committee on May 13 that Policy 1‑17 — the district’s anti‑racism policy adopted in November 2022 — is scheduled for review by the board’s policy committee next Wednesday and that staff expect only modest substantive changes.

Bledis, who serves as staff liaison to the policy committee, said the draft will be migrated into a new policy template and that the office has solicited feedback across several stakeholder groups. "We’re not gonna be proposing some really major heavy overhaul," he said, urging committee members to use a short feedback form and small‑group review to identify clarifications and suggested edits.

Committee members focused on language and accessibility. One member urged the committee to make the text readable to the general public, suggesting a target around middle‑school reading level and listing potentially confusing words — "affront, eradicate, animus" — as examples to avoid. Members also discussed replacing phrasing such as "heritage" with "lived experience" and using "people of color" rather than "groups of color" to improve clarity.

On hiring and training, several participants questioned a clause that said personnel would receive training to "prevent" racism. A committee member recommended reframing that language to emphasize identifying and responding to racist incidents, arguing it better matches what training can realistically achieve.

Members also noted an inconsistent use of directive language in the draft: signage guidance used the word "should" in one place while other provisions used "shall" or "must." Bledis said staff will document suggested edits and can propose changes either through the Granicus portal draft or at the policy committee meeting itself.

The committee raised accessibility concerns: staff acknowledged the system lacks capacity to translate every policy into multiple languages and said staff typically provide translations for individual requests; members suggested using AI tools to assist translation with human review. Bledis listed currently approved tools in central office use (Gemini and NotebookLM) and said the district is testing a legal AI tool for staff use.

Staff said the draft was posted to the district portal and that the policy committee meeting will be recorded and available on YouTube. Members were encouraged to attend the policy committee meeting (9:30–11:30 a.m. next Wednesday) or submit feedback through the provided channels.

Next steps: staff will collate committee feedback, present the draft to the policy committee, and make proposed edits either through the portal or on the record. The committee did not take any formal votes on policy language at the May 13 meeting because it lacked quorum.