Elizabeth Meyer, an education professor, has partnered with the San Luis Obispo County Office of Education to help local schools implement three new California laws focused on increasing diversity, safety and inclusion. These laws come at a challenging time for schools when much of their attention is on reforms such as the Common Core State Standards and the Local Control Funding Formula. As a result, many school districts and educators are not aware of these new laws and have done little to begin implementing them.
Meyer's research team is performing an audit of local school safety policies and developing a set of recommended procedures to help schools respond to Seth’s Law, an anti-bullying law. In addition, the team is conducting focus groups with educators around the county to understand their challenges and questions.
Many teachers lack the resources to implement a second new law, the FAIR Education Act, which requires the inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people; people with disabilities and Pacific Islanders throughout the K-12 curriculum. To help with this process, the team has developed a website offering information and materials, offered several curriculum workshops around the county, and is collecting sample lesson ideas to share with local teachers.
In order to ensure a broad base of support for these initiatives, the team established a Community Advisory Board with representatives from over 20 organizations including youth-serving agencies around the county, school districts, and Cal Poly programs. This group meets quarterly to discuss issues related to these laws, make recommendations on how to proceed, and initiate community education and awareness activities.
In January, the Community Advisory Board established the Central Coast Coalition for Inclusive Schools, an official community coalition to support this work on a broader scale. The coalition is planning outreach and educational activities to help the community embrace the spirit of these laws and work to promote school environments that are safe and inclusive for all students and families. Last year this group organized three screenings of the film "Bullied" to help educate the community about these issues. In the future, they plan to offer resources for the implementation of a third new law, the Student Success and Opportunity Act, which clarifies the rights of transgender students to participate in school activities based on their gender identity.
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