Following a school play last year that incited concern about how Black history is taught, Hamden schools have implemented new steps to support and educate students about Black history and other minority groups.
February is nationally recognized as Black History Month, but the Hamden Board of Education said it wants to see the education of Black History in its schools extend beyond just a one month per year focus.
Melissa Kaplan, English and Women’s and Gender Studies professor at Quinnipiac University and member of the Board of Education in Hamden, sees Black History Month as a conversation starter.
Black History Month is a “place to begin a conversation that is long overdue in terms of recognizing the significance of the Black community and the contributions to American identity and its multiplicity,” Kaplan said.
Kaplan has been on the Board of Education for three years and already sees a difference in the teachers’ approach to teaching Black history. She noted the importance of having a curriculum that is represented in all the multiplicity of American culture.
“I think we need these forms of interrogation to really think about ways in which we can challenge the status quo,” Kaplan said.
The conversation about Black history in Hamden accelerated after an incident a year ago at West Woods Elementary School. The school put on a play, aimed at introducing elementary school students to the horrors of the trans-Atlantic slave trade, which ended up receiving sparked concern about how race is taught today.
Since this incident, the Hamden Board of Education is implementing new ways of educating students about the topic.
With a new fund gifted by the State of Connecticut and the Town of Hamden, schools are already making changes to the curriculum, such as after-school opportunities for students, more books with diverse authors and themes, minority recruitment and retention and meal cost assistance for students in need.. Teachers are also participating in workshops to continue education on more efficient ways to teach students about Black history.
Principal Daniel Levy of West Woods Elementary School also implemented a school governance council and an equity council to better serve the needs of all students, in addition to identifying areas where equity might not be at its peak.
Levy noted that the district has invested enormously in the professional education of staff members and resources for students’ books.
“Our staff is also building close relationships with our students and families. I think the most critical piece is making sure that every family, every student feels welcome,” Levy said.
Despite the incident last year at West Woods, Levy sees a slow but steady progress in the adoption of equity goals for the school. He said he hopes to continue implementing Black history even more in the future.
“Black history is American history,” Levy says. “You don’t have the one without the other. The history of our people is our history and it’s important for students to recognize that and to see themselves as members of our community.”
While schools continue to try and support their teachers and students, Justin Farmer, a legislative councilman representing Hamden’s fifth district in his second term, believes the Hamden community itself has been slow in acknowledging issues about Black history and racism.
“Hamden has struggled for some time to acknowledge its changing demographics…In terms of leadership, I would say very little if anything has changed.
– Justin Farmer
“We have to be willing to acknowledge institutional research,” he said. “We have to be willing to talk about the issues and struggles of our community. And we also have to really do things in an intersectional way.”
Farmer said the biggest issue is the miscommunication between Black communities, schools and the town itself. However, Farmer also looks at the bright side.
“Hamden has changed in the last 15 years, more than ever. I’m excited to see what celebrations we’re having in the coming years, as we reflect on Black History Month,” Farmer said. “And hopefully it becomes less painful and more and more joyous.”
However, with progress comes struggles. Though the town of Hamden has begun to accept change, due to the repercussions of COVID-19 pandemic on the education system, the process of achieving greater equity throughout Hamden’s school system has been drastically slowed.
“Our Board of Education was flat funded this past year….all of these things that we’ve planned have great potential, but as we all are increasingly aware of that the pandemic has had a significantly disproportionate effect of Black and Brown communities,” Kaplan said about the effects the pandemic had on the school system in Hamden.
Schools have had to deal with “chronic absenteeism,” making it increasingly more difficult to maintain close connections with students.
Despite the slow progress, Kaplan and Levy are optimistic that the Hamden community and its schools will continue to do better in the future. Both are convinced that there will be a better understanding about Black history, not just during Black History Month, but as a staple in historical curriculums.
“I think when it comes to issues of inclusion and diversity that (the Town of) Hamden and the Board of Education need to take an intersectional approach to that, and to think about how race and racism intersect with classism, with homophobia and transphobia ableism in our schools,” Kaplan said. “I think all of those are interconnected. And I think that’s really the approach that I hope that the board of Education continues to take.”
