A new report commissioned by the city of Winooski has called Vermont’s least homogenous community “diverse but not inclusive.”
The 68-page equity audit released last week found that the city and its school district are “a model for diversity but are challenged with equity and inclusion.”
Yasamin Gordon, who started a year ago as the city’s first equity director, called the report “invaluable to the city because it amplifies the voices of the unheard — which was exactly what it was meant to do.”
“The perspectives of the folks who were the focus of the report are the reason why we are engaged in this work, and they are the motivation to continue,” she said in an email.
Representatives from Opportunity Consulting interviewed city leaders, conducted focus groups, identified policies and practices that may contribute to inequity, and compiled data from their findings to compile the report.
According to the report, the consultants found:
- Segregation exists in schools and neighborhoods, with a majority of residents not being exposed to the diversity of the city.
- Residents who are Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) and new immigrants have a vastly more challenging experience than their white neighbors, with BIPOC students generally scoring lower and reporting a more challenging learning environment.
- Community liaisons employed by the district — who the district describes as “cultural brokers” for tasks ranging from interpreting to tutoring — play “a dramatic role” in the school district’s ability to engage with new immigrant families.
- Authorities disproportionately use disciplinary and law enforcement tools against BIPOC residents and students, including traffic stops and school disciplinary actions.
- The school and city workforce lack diversity.
- A silencing of BIPOC points of view and a lack of representation in curriculum leads to gaps in reading skills and barriers to civic life such as voting.
- Inequities in the city’s housing policy and practice has “profoundly impacted” the lives of residents and students.
The consultants’ recommendations include implementing strategies to reduce inequities in exclusionary school discipline, diversifying the educator workforce, educating and training landlords and renters on rights and responsibilities, and increasing civic participation among BIPOC residents.
The genesis of the report dates to 2019, when Winooski officials held an “equity summit” to better understand the gaps between the municipal structure and resident experiences, and agreed to prioritize efforts to address systemic inequity. The summit led to the proposal to hire a director and conduct the equity audit.
A request for proposals was released last year and the city selected Opportunity Consulting (formerly IBG Consulting) of Washington, D.C. last fall. Facilitating the equity report has been one of Gordon’s first major tasks.
The audit was commissioned to document the experiences of residents who don’t usually contact or engage with city officials, Mayor Kristine Lott said in an email.
“The report will help us consider those experiences when we review our Master Plan progress and set annual priorities. The report’s findings inform current goals progress, and tell us where we should refocus resources and revisit strategies,” Lott said.
Unequal experiences
With inequity on the rise nationwide — including based on race, income and education — the consultants pointed out that such disparities often lead to unequal outcomes in voting, health and other areas. Research also shows that the gap is not a result of natural differences in talent or ability, but rather a result of life experiences.
In interviews with the consultants, BIPOC residents said that while the city is welcoming, they experience demographic segregation and “de facto exclusion from community life” that reduces the impact they have in municipal decision-making. The report quoted an unnamed resident saying the city’s BIPOC community feels “relatively voiceless.”
In Winooski’s schools, data indicates BIPOC students are consistently underperforming. For example, 22% of Winooski School District students are proficient in English language arts, but the rate is 7% for “one of the BIPOC groups,” the report said. Proficiency in mathematics was reported at 13% and 2%, respectively.
Moreover, the data shows that Black, Latino/a and multiracial students are much more likely to receive disciplinary referrals relative to their peers, and also more likely to be disciplined across the school district.
The report also found that BIPOC residents face cultural gatekeeping in which they’re excluded from the workforce by existing members. Residents of color are overrepresented in the community services department and stereotyped as “caretakers,” the consultants said, while white residents sometimes try to be protective of them in a way that undercuts opportunities.
The issue also cuts along gender, according to the report. One city employee said she would not feel comfortable bringing a female applicant into her division because it is “so misogynistic.” Such action tends to block opportunity, the report states.
The report also found Winooski “has not made enough effort to identify and address the systemic barriers to voting for New Americans,” who are often refugees from countries where political violence is common. Some residents therefore do not have the same experience with democracy and civic participation as their American-born neighbors.
As one anonymous respondent noted in the report, refugees are often scared to vote and fear being imprisoned in retaliation. Even when they are not scared, some immigrants may not understand the purpose or potential benefits of civic engagement.
On housing, the report found that Winooski has not provided new immigrant families with the knowledge and tools to advocate for their rights as tenants. The consultants noted that the city’s “awareness of housing issues and the actions taken to remedy these issues have not been inclusive” of the concerns of BIPOC and immigrants and “have been insufficient to affect change.”
The report emphasized the discrepancy of Winooski’s experience as a community making progress on diversity and being open to refugees but where many barriers to full equity and inclusion remain.
As one unnamed city employee said: “If I had to emphasize anything, the thing that’s always frustrated me is we’ve sat around and said we’re the most diverse community in the state and kind of rested on those laurels.”
However, the employee said, “We don’t have relationships across cultures to speak of. We don’t live together.”
A commitment to equity
Though the report found deficiencies in BIPOC residents’ experience of the city, Gordon said she was optimistic about a path forward. She noted that most Vermont cities and towns didn’t recognize “the true value of diversity” until relatively recently.
“Winooski was one of the first cities in the state to recognize this and set forth plans to address and change negative outcomes for residents who are members of marginalized groups,” she said.
Gordon said she recognizes that systemic racism cannot be changed overnight, but said she believes Winooski is consciously and strategically working toward change. The report will help them to invest in, deconstruct and re-prioritize systems in order to reach and serve all residents so that everyone can thrive, she said.
Iris Bond Gill, CEO of Opportunity Consulting, presented the report to the City Council at its April 18 meeting. She praised the cooperation of the city and the school district in facilitating production of the report, and said she hopes it marks a step toward a more equitable and inclusive city.
“The fact that the city and the school district both contracted with an outside group to come in and unpack inequities that impact city residents and students and families really demonstrates the commitment that you all have to this work, particularly to residents of marginalized communities. And not all cities are making these kinds of investments,” Bond Gill said.
The report has great value, City Councilor Bryn Oakleaf said in an email. The city is “committed to learning what work is needed so that we aren’t simply a diverse City but, one that feels like home to the BIPOC and New American communities,” she said.
She said she was not surprised to see areas of needed improvement, saying the audit was not meant to be a “pat on the back” for work thus far.
“We know there is more that must be done and this Equity Audit confirms what those areas of focus need to be,” Oakleaf said.
After the presentation, Lott introduced the city’s declaration of inclusion, similar to others adopted in Vermont.
She said she shared it “to reaffirm we are committed … to inclusion and belonging.”
