Welcome

The mission of the taskforce for racial and cultural harmony is to enable an effective and sustained focus on diversity awareness, cultural competence, and inclusive excellence.  Composed of volunteers from throughout the City of Philadelphia, the taskforce is led by Reverend Steven Avinger, Todd Bernstein, Reverend Bonnie Camarda, and Kay Kyungsun Yu, Esq.

In order for learning to occur, harmony should exist in every school.  The taskforce is organized into 11 committees aligned with the 11 regions of the school district.  During the months of March and April, each committee dialogued with the regional superintendent, and visited several schools in their region.  The purpose of the visits was not to assess the state of individual schools, but to gain insights on practical and effective strategies that can be applied successfully in many schools.  In April and May, each committee wrote a report and recommendations.

Racial & Cultural Harmony Implementation Plan

After the presentation of the Final Report of the Task Force for Racial and Cultural Harmony to the School Reform Commission on September 22, 2010, the District was charged with creating an implementation plan that incorporated the recommendations from the Final Report of the Task Force.

Through the work of a District Steering Committee and input from the Task Force Co-Chairs, an implementation plan was created and submitted to the SRC in December 2010 as requested by the Task Force.  Implementation of this plan began in January 2011.

• Racial & Cultural Harmony Implementation Plan

Lisa Delpit

Meeting Dates

Key Documents

Here are some key documents:

• Final Report of the Task Force for Racial and Cultural Harmony 
• Appendix D: April 2010 Taskforce Meeting Powerpoint
• Opportunity Analysis Guidelines -Guidelines for the dialogues and site visits conducted by taskforce committees.
• Statement to the School Reform Commission by the Taskforce Chairs - On February 24, 2010, the chairs of the taskforce expressed their commitment to working to identify and implement effective measures to promote racial and cultural understanding. 
• Map of the Regions - A map of the school district's 11 academic regions.
• Alternative Region Committee Report
• Central Region Committee Report
• Central East Region Committee Report
• Comprehensive High School Region Committee Report
• East Region Committee Report
• North Region Committee Report
• Northeast Region Commitee Report
• Northwest Region Commitee Report
• South Region Committee Report
• Southwest Region Committee Report
• West Region Committee Report