After speaking with a large group of islanders who call themselves the Racial Equity Committee, the Vashon school board last week approved a plan to address racial equity and move toward the implementation of a district-wide policy.

Committee member Spring Hecht shared her excitement in an email Friday, saying the board decision came after “healthy discussion and input from the 29 parents, school staff and community members” at last Thursday’s meeting.

The plan asks the district to create a district-wide racial equity policy, amend the strategic plan to include racial equity strategies, implement racial equity training for district staff and, overall, create a strategy to recruit board, staff and students of color and teach about racial equity in the classroom.

Hecht called the board’s adoption of the plan “groundbreaking” and said those in the committee are “championing racial equity efforts for the youth of Vashon and their families.”

The school district first ventured into racial equity work in May of 2016 after Hecht approached Vashon Island School District Superintendent Michael Soltman. She heads the Racial Equity Committee, which was formed in 2015 after an incident involving the harassment of a local African American man occurred in the summer that year. That same year, Vashon’s school district administered a survey to teachers asking about diversity at the district’s schools and how prepared teachers felt to deal with that diversity. According to the results, less than 45 percent of teachers at each of the district’s schools feel they have opportunities to learn effective teaching strategies for the diversity represented in the schools.

In response, Soltman organized a racial equity training session for administrators and board members in an effort to ensure that the district’s students were well-versed in diversity and race. But Hecht and her group wanted a more concrete policy in place.

The board is expected to create and approve the racial equity policy in the coming weeks.