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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuman Rights and Diversity - 11/19/2004 APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE HUMAN RIGHTS & DIVERSITY COMMISSION TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2004 7:00 PM., Eden Prairie Center 125 Eden Prairie Center Office of Housing and Human Services COMMISSION MEMBERS: Larry Piumbroeck(Chair), Jeff Strate (Vice-Chair), Gerry Beckmann, Cari Maguire, Pam Miller, Linda Chung, and Balu Iyer STUDENT REPRESENTATIVES: Hojun Lee—EPHS Junior, Tara Degn - EPHS Senior, and Jackie Beutell—EPHS Senior COMMISSION STAFF: Molly Koivumaki, Staff Liaison Mary Zilka, Recording Secretary I. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL Chair Piumbroeck called the meeting to order at 7:10 PM. Mary Zilka took Role Call. All members present. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Piumbroeck would like to add an agenda item to the Reports of Staff. Maguire has an addition to the agenda under new business. MOTION: Strate moved, seconded by Beckmann to approve the added agenda items. Motion carried, 8-0. III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES —October 12, 2004 Beckmann would like a correction on page 4 second paragraph, the last sentence. If the Lion's were not going to help us with the fundraising, we could go to the Best Buy or Costco. The HRDC would like to continue to manage the assignment of the awards and approach the Lions to determine if they would be interested in being the fundraising agent for the awards. Miller on page 2 last paragraph did not have a question this is her statement of fact; I was saying in civil law if you are discriminated or retaliated against because of assisting someone who is a protected class,but you are not a protected class then you have a claim. Maguire noticed on the last page 3rd paragraph that Koivumaki said she could arrange a meeting, not that she would arrange a meeting. Piumbroeck stated that if the commission members have language changes, it would be helpful to write it down and submit to the recording secretary just as you want it., or e-mail it to Koivumaki and she will get it to Mary Zilka. Strate questioned that what if someone has lied on the record (minutes) and then wants to change it, so it is a distortion of what was really said. Koivumaki said the changes would be e-mailed to her, Mary Zilka would show the changes on the original minutes, and they would have to be approved. Please remember you cannot change minutes without approval by the commission. MOTION: Maguire moved, seconded by Strate, to approve the October 12, 2004 minutes as modified. The motion carried, 8-0. Eden Prairie Human Rights & Diversity Commission November 9, 2004 Page 2 IV. Guest Speaker—Ms. Nanette Missas!hi, Eden Prairie Schools, Intesration Program Coordinator Koivumaki explained that at our September meeting a request was made by commissioners that a representative from Eden Prairie Schools be invited to our November meeting and share with us what programs are occurring at the Eden Prairie School District regarding Eden Prairie's diverse population. Ms. Missaghi in addition to her role as the Eden Prairie Schools Integration Program Coordinator has worked on "The Gathering" and the "International Festival." We appreciate your time Nanette. Missaghi explained that the Eden Prairie Schools continues their English as a Second Language for immigrants. Eden Prairie Schools (EPS)have joined the West Metro Education Program(WMEP). About 8 years ago, the Minneapolis Public Schools were sued by the NAACP because African American students were not performing and so the school district lost and the state appropriated what they call integration dollars to help desegregation Minneapolis Public Schools. WMEP is a voluntary consortium of 11 urban and suburban school districts in the Minneapolis metropolitan area that was formed in 1989 to cooperatively address integration issues in the west metro area. Through funds from WMEP, EPS have hired two district wide communication specialists, one Spanish interpreter and one Somali interpreter. This is something we are helping immigrant families with in-house. Oak Point Intermediate School and Central Middle School have collaborated with the National Urban Alliance to send culturally competent coaches in to teach the teachers how to work with diverse students. The Center for Urban Teaching through Hamline University is working with Forest Hills teachers, to better understand the Somali students. Forest Hills has the most diverse population of our elementary schools. We know that the achievement gap in students that do not perform well,research shows it is about the teachers and what strategies they have and how skilled they are, it is not about the students. The commission asked Missaghi about the Eden Prairie High School racial issues. Especially about the African American students and Somali Refugees and so forth. That was 2 years ago and out of that the school has direct contact and had groups meet together and that has ended because they were able to address the need and had what they called restorative circles. The high school does accommodate Muslims students for prayer time. Muslims pray 5 times a day. One major thrust is to get some key documents translated into Spanish and Somali. One is the attendance letter. The school district does have a Spanish and Somali attendance line. As needed they do provide mentors which has been useful for some Somali girls. Principals and the associate principal will find people that are willing to be mentors to these kids. This is for anybody that administration might feel will benefit. This is done internally, not a formal program. Central Middle School(CMS)has two teachers, Lisa Rowe and Holly Anderson who have started a student diversity group, that incorporates a number of refugee students that are in this. About 3 years ago, after many Somali families moved to Eden Prairie, school officials began to realize that there were refugee issues and there were many needs unmet. CMS had groups of students that met with the counselors to help their transition. There are culture clashes between many Somali parents and their children. The kids felt lost caught between two worlds. Eden Prairie Human Rights & Diversity Commission November 9, 2004 Page 3 Elementary level - not much going on besides ESL. The schools have tried hard to have a Somali PTO, with an interpreter, it just did not really work. Many countries do not believe in being involved in their children's education, that is the schools and teachers responsibility. Forest Hills Elementary tried to have a Hispanic/Latino PTO group and that did not work, mainly because so much got lost in translation. There is a great need to education the parents of what is going on in schools to help their kids to be successful. Early Childhood and Family Education teachers are working hard and hands on with parents and children. They have received an LCTS grant to hire an English-speaking teacher and interpreters go to homes and help prepare kids to be ready for kindergarten. They jumped right in and have more funds thanks to WMEP to expand and now Partners Preschool is now part of this. The high school has started a video to be in Somali that would explain the whole high school handbook, but it did not get finished. Many needs, but we do not have enough resources. Maguire asked if there is a separate preschool class for Somali. Nanette does not know for sure,but there would be an interpreter in the class. There is a bilingual class.; they have an English teacher and a Spanish teacher interfacing together in the same class as the class goes on. Iyer brought up the Russian immigrants to inquire what issues they have. Russian community has been here for 10 years, so the need for Russian interpreters has decreased. Hmong came into MN, but did not move here. We have the infrastructure in place now,but due to budget cuts, we have not been hiring much,but now they can come in and get training in their own language. November 18 is national mix it up day, to encourage students to mix it up and sit somewhere else during lunch. It is unfortunate that there is not more mixing. The students do not have fellowship, which is unfortunate. Some teachers have students pick numbers to see which group they will be in for a project. That is one way to mix it up. There is not a lot of diversity in the enriched class either, so there is so much we are trying to educate people on that too. Maguire talked about how in the Eden Prairie papers did not talk about racial conflicts being part of the lockdown problem. Missaghi knows that there was a conflict between some students, it was not like a huge thing like the media made it seem. Students and their parents are not helping the situations at home, racism is a disease. If the adults are not seeking fellowship with other groups, why should we expect anything different from our kids? Read the book, Why Are All the Black Kids Sittiniz To_et We have a high performing rate for all of our students, we have a couple subgroups that are not at their achievement level. Miller asked if there are any programs or resources going to enable some of the minority cultures to participate in high school sports. Her daughter told her yesterday that the principal told the student council that the fees could triple by next year. Missaghi stated the Booster Club will help with scholarships. Mike Grant, the Student Activity Director,has done things on his own. He has recruited immigrant kids. We found out that a lot of immigrant families don't believe school is the place for sports., you go to school for academics. It's all about educating parents and the families from the different cultures. The Booster scholarships are for all student activities. Most of the academic programs do not have fees. Miller wondered is it the problems of not joining groups cultural or financial? Missaghi said it is both. We did informal focus groups 3 years ago about why certain racial groups were in certain things? Why were Africian American boys more in football then in the chess club and why were Asian kids in the chess club and the National Honor Society but not in football. Obviously there are American cultural influences as well. We found out from informal focus groups that we did is that there are perceptions that certain sports and for certain kids and the kids wouldn't feel comfortable. Eden Prairie Human Rights & Diversity Commission November 9, 2004 Page 4 This is just perceptual data. Some other kids said they like football,but it's just their choice if they want to play. We found that at immigrant gatherings they wanted there own groups, soccer was mentioned, and Missaghi said it is a natural thing for people to want to stay within their own language and culture. They are trying to protect themselves. Beckmann asked when the district joined WMEP, how did that help the Mpls. schools? Missaghi said it helps by taking their students, it is called the choice is yours desegregation program. We did not get the full amount of money as the other districts because we just started it. The funds are mainly for transportation. *Beckmann asked Missaghi what is the number of students from Mpls. that come here to Eden Prairie and the number of Eden Prairie students that go to Mpls.? Missaghi said she did not know the numbers. Piumbroeck asked do you think the broader community has a clue about what is happening in the school district and the challenges that face what the immigrant population and what the school district has to do and where the money comes from? My sensibilities tell me they do not a clue. Missaghi commented that your basic Minnesotan would not have a clue, unless you perhaps married someone from a different culture. She thinks that the people that voted for the referendum are more informed about how we spend our money, but we do not want it to stop after the referendum. I think we need to have continued conversations. I belong to an Immigrant Services Group that meets once a month, and some people when they hear the word immigrants, think service, or diversity is a bad word. They always say things as if we have to deal with diversity. Maguire said that she thinks one problem is that if the average person that had a clue they might not like the fact that the ESL classes are in pullout. They might not like that we are paying a teacher and maybe they only see 5 or 6 kids at a time, they might think why can't these kids just go learn English. Missaghi does get calls asking about ESL . They ask what the diversity in our school district is and I can always tell this is code for I want to send my child to the whitest school with the least amount of diversity. Even though if they only knew all the elementary schools have the same excellent teachers and same excellent curriculum,but they think that because my kid is going to sit next to someone that does not speak English they are going to lower their education. That is just such a sad thing. Iyer asked if there is a need to educate the adult population in the community. It has to start in the home where you first learn racism. Piumbroeck said as I look at the commission and its role, what role can we play? If we are the HRDC in this city, our reach is to the broader community, so how do we bring about the value of what is happening in our community. Missaghi said when people have to ask what is diversity, which tells you right where they are. Missaghi said it is commendable if the HRDC wants to take this on to educate people through a way through fun and I don't mean events, let me tell you what the International Festival did for people that would have been more for the European Americans who didn't interact with people, it was a huge thing and was very diverse and a safe way for people to get together. There needs to be some kind of process. Missaghi offered to help us in any way because this is something I truly believe in. Iyer remembered when the Blake schools brought in a famous cook and he did a cooking lesson. He is from India and showed the different ways Indian people cook and eat. Children and there parents both came and it was a good thing. Strate said Iyer hit the nail right on the head. You do not preach to people, but you find those common bonds, food, music, etc. so if we do something as a commission we ought to consider those rather feel good universal needs and desires like good cooking. Eden Prairie Human Rights & Diversity Commission November 9, 2004 Page 5 Missaghi has learned so much from working with Eden Prairie Schools. She has learned that when the cultures meet there is fear. Difference is normal and a way of life, why is there that fear of difference? How do we teach people that? Keep plugging along every step counts. There are student grants available for high school student's $7500 grants to help bring the different cultures together. You can work with students from Minneapolis just give Nanette Missaghi a call. Come up with an idea of how you could help Minneapolis students desegregate she would even help you write a grant. Thank you for all the valuable information Nanette! V. NEW BUSINESS A. 2005 Calendar Discussion Maguire noticed looking at this agenda, noticed that there wasn't any new business or old business and then she remembered we had last year a nice graphic calendar and we never got around to totally fill that in and maybe next time we can make sure that we really do some strategic planning about as a commission hope to do and how that will manifest itself in different activities. What each individual might be willing to put time towards so we are certain that we do some things. Koivumaki commented that on a staff perspective on that, generally there are certain things that happen routinely with the scholarships and Human Rights Awards so what she can do is when we get the minutes,put in a sample calendar and maybe the rest of us and help fill it in at the next meeting. This commission has changed quite a bit, we didn't have gatherings or international festivals so it was easier to have a study calendar year after year, but we do things a lot different now and it is probably more appropriate to have a handle on some of the activities. I could offer that. Chung thought a calendar would be very helpful. Here are some of the things the commission came up with and will think about over the next month: 1. Continuation of Scholarship/Human Rights Awards. Added effort on promotion to increase applications. 2. Involvement in International Festival (with adjustments in organization) 3. Gathering event. Possibly focused more on including/educating members of the non-immigrant community. Maybe something focused on giving people a chance to really talk to people who are from different cultures. 4. Story-telling event—folk tale. Summer event with theater or reenactment type thing. Might be interesting to do a visual type of storytelling. 5. "Fun" event(Balu's cooking example) to allow intercultural/intergroup communication/exploration in a more relaxed atmosphere, focusing on what we have in common. 6. More League participation. 7. Continuation of All of Us Column. 8. Something for Martin Luther King Jr. Day Eden Prairie Human Rights & Diversity Commission November 9, 2004 Page 6 Iyer inquired that we as commission members how we could interact in a more personal way with the adult population of what their concerns are, or what they learn from their kids and may have questions. VI. REPORTS OF STAFF A. Human Services Review Committee (HSRC) No updates B. Bias Crime Activity Status No update other than Koivumaki has not connected with the man who called from NAACP. C. Discussion of Opening Meeting Law Koivumaki passed out copies of the open meeting law. At our last meeting vice chair, Strate requested that we go off record, and which is on page 3 of the minutes. If you look on page 8 of the open meeting law, it talks about what you have to do to close a meeting. We violated the law at our last meeting,but we can fix this violation by making public what was off the record. Strate went on the record and told the best he could recall of a situation that happened to Larry Piumbroeck and John Mallo (an Eden Prairie resident) in Chanhassen at the Bush Campaign rally. While attending the rally, the men hear expletives like antichrist, Jesus killer, faggot in the audience. Mr. Mallo was on the way back to their car, when he was assaulted by a teenage boy. Officers were called. Mr. Mallo's shirt was torn and his shoulder hurt, the officer in charge took down information from all the parties concerned and during that time, someone from the crowd offered to be a witness and the officer took notes from that witness. VII. Old Business A. Funds for students to participate in Athletics Miller asked if the commission would be ok with her calling Mike Grant(the high school activities director) to get some information on diverse students playing athletics. For instance,how students receive scholarships? Is anyone using them? The commission was ok with that. VIII. Reports from Commission Members A. South Hennepin Immigrant Services Group (SHISG) Beckmann reported that several new people attended the meeting. There was a discussion about Elderly Somali women needing to have a gathering place where they can meet to have fellowship time. A new member spoke of a group who is meeting at Cedar Riverside that meets with the Elderly Somali people and doing exercises with them. We asked that person to invite those people from Cedar Riverside to come out to our next meeting and share information about that. Is the SHISG purely a discussion group or an action group? Next month the group will decide which kind of a group they are, a discussion group or a action group. Beckmann attended a meeting on October 19 at the Eden Prairie High School Performing Art Center. Mr. Olegario (011ie) Cantos was the key speaker. Mr. Cantos is the assistant to the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights R. Alexander Acosta. He spoke on the Justice Departments role in protecting Civil Rights of people with disabilities and the importance of advocacy and community involvement. Mr. Cantos has been blind since birth and he has become one of the highest placed people with a disability in the federal government. In attendance, there were various people from the MN State Departments which deal with Civil Rights and ADA Departments, Courage Center, Human Health Services and 2 or 3 classes from the high school. Eden Prairie Human Rights & Diversity Commission November 9, 2004 Page 7 Beckmann thought the speech was very inspiring. "All of you are Eagles." Cantos said, and not just because of your team name. You have the right, and the ability, to soar to any level of success. "It's important to build bridges where you might think bridges can't be built." "Disability is not a big deal, and it shouldn't be sugar-coated in words like `differently abled.' "Why should we be ashamed of who we are?" "But our disabilities don't define us. We are defined by our dreams, hopes and aspirations." " It is not necessarily the smartest,brightest or fastest individual who reaches the highest level of success, it is the most persistent." She could see several of the students' just beam at that. Beckmann also reported on the Eden Prairie Reads Program . Kent Nerbum EP Reads, author of Neither Wolf Nor Dog, she thought he did a great job, primarily an author not a speaker. He had written his remarks down and Beckman shared some of them with us. Nerburn said in the Native American culture they believe in show me your heart, not your resume, first allow people to open themselves up. Go to the elders, they have the values. George Schell represented the senior community and he said when you read a book you have to talk about it,it's like going to Valley Fair and not riding on the Wild Thing. Seek out elders they will not come to you. Iyer had a discussion with Gary Stevens at the Lion's club meeting regarding the scholarships. Mr. Steven's was very receptive and asked Iyer to ask Strate to write a letter explaining why we would need the Lion's club to be involved in this fundraising. Maguire mentioned she has conflict on the Tuesday nights of February, March, April and May. If we could change a few of those to another night, she would really appreciate it. Chair has no objection to it. Koivumaki said we might need to survey folks and see if we can change the date. Bring your calendars to the next meeting. Miller looked up that law regarding bias crime. There is not a separate law it is an aggravation of the crime. She does not think they are right. Under harassment law, 1. Under subdivision 3 —because of a victim's or another's? Maguire asked if we question the city prosecuting attorney why he did not pursue this. Koivumaki said we could have an Police Lieutenant come to the HRDC and brief us on how they determine what is a bias crime and how they investigate such a claim. Mr. John Mallo came to the commission meeting and asked to speak at the meeting that night. Koivumaki said if you want to be on the agenda and speak, it needs to be brought up ahead of time. Beckmann wanted to go on record that she is not opposed to Mr. Mallo speaking but we have to strongly follow the commission rules. It is our obligation to follow them to the best of our ability. Students were excused at 9:35 pm. XI. Future Meetings/Events X. Meeting was adjourned— Strate motioned to end the meeting. Iyer seconded the meeting Meeting was adjourned at 9:45 PM