Superintendent Correspondence to the Community

Good afternoon,

I wanted to take the opportunity to send a message to the Abington School District Community to reinforce the shared values of our community and our commitment to fostering a safe and inclusive environment for all of our students during a particularly troubling increase in hatred and violence towards Asian/Asian-American and Pacific Islander individuals throughout the country.  As a school district, we believe strongly that (1) diversity is a strength and an asset; (2) every individual has equal human value; and (3) a secure and safe environment, and peaceful conflict resolution, are essential to learning and society.  There is no place in this world for violence and hatred; it is especially troubling when this violence and hatred is targeted because of a person’s racial or ethnic background.  I can say firmly, that there is no place for hatred, violence, or racism in Abington Schools. 

We take our shared values seriously and are committed to upholding them in our schools.  In the spring of 2020, our secondary social studies and English departments developed lessons to discuss the anti-Asian racism that surged in relation to COVID-19.  In our effort to continue to provide a safe and secure environment for our students and staff, we shared a number of resources with our principals earlier this week that are dedicated to supporting our Asian/Asian-American and Pacific Islander students, families, and communities.  These resources were shared with principals to assist them in working with our teachers to support their students and reaffirm our shared values.  Our schools are a place where all students should feel safe and secure, and our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion is our continued obligation to provide this security.

This year our teachers have begun to participate in training with Learning for Justice on incorporating Social Justice Standards into their educational practice.  Those standards include Identity, Diversity, Justice, and Action.  This training is designed to help our teachers become even more intentional in our efforts to promote social justice in our classrooms.   

Our school community is a microcosm of society; as a district we are proud of the diversity in our community.  It saddens me that our students have to bear witness to expressions of identity-based hatred and violence, but I write to you today to affirm our commitment to continuing to honor the values of this community and providing a safe and secure environment where all members of our community feel welcome, valued, and accepted.    

Regards,

Jeffrey S. Fecher, Ed.D.

Superintendent of Schools