Equity & Inclusion
- Equity & Inclusion Homepage
- Educational Equity Advisory Committee
- Equity Training
- Students: Legal Rights and Resources
- “Anxious Generation” Book Study
Equity & Inclusion Homepage
Welcome to Riverdale’s Equity and Inclusion page!
We’re dedicated to fostering an environment where all students and families feel valued and empowered. Our commitment to equity work means creating opportunities that celebrate identity, diversity, and justice while building a strong sense of community and belonging for all.
Explore more about our equity programs, and feel free to reach out to our director of equity and inclusion Elizabeth Spaulding on how we can build an even more inclusive Riverdale community.
Bias Reporting Form
Riverdale School District is committed to creating a safe, welcoming, and inclusive environment for all students, staff, and community members.
If you’ve experienced or observed a bias incident, please complete the Riverdale School District Bias Incident Reporting Form to help us address and respond to these concerns.
Example Lesson Plans
Community of Belonging: Art Project
"Community of Belonging" Art Project
7th and 8th graders participated in a lesson on "belonging." As a learning community, they brainstormed what it means to belong, where they experience a sense of belonging, how it feels, and why this matters. This lesson also defined what an "upstander" is and what their rights and protections are at school.
*Each paper quilt diamond represents individual students' associations with "belonging." This quilt is symbolic of cour community's diversity and creativity.
Educational Equity Advisory Committee
The Educational Equity Advisory Committee (EEAC) was established to advise the Riverdale School Board and Superintendent on issues related to educational equity, inclusion, and student experience, in alignment with Oregon Senate Bill 732. The EEAC meets regularly and provides recommendations to the district.
Nomination & Selection
EEAC members were selected through an open application process. Applications were reviewed using a shared rubric, with names redacted to support fairness and transparency. Final selections were recommended by the Superintendent and approved by the School Board.
Call for RSD Educational Equity Advisory Committee
Read More
about Call for RSD Educational Equity Advisory Committee
Equity Training
Protecting Students: Bias, Bullying, Harassment & Discrimination
Who We Are
Riverdale is a vibrant and diverse community working toward a shared vision to stimulate future leaders to use their minds well, engage creatively, and act compassionately. We are committed to ensuring that everyone experiences a sense of safety and belonging within our community.
Our Mission
Riverdale develops inquisitive, imaginative and eager learners. Our students demonstrate academic mastery through exhibition to become effective communicators and responsible leaders.
Riverdale’s Educational Equity Policy
We are committed to the success of every student in each of our schools. For that success to occur, the District is committed to equity by recognizing and eliminating institutional barriers and creating access and opportunities that benefit each student. “Achieving equity” means students’ identities will not predict or predetermine their success in school.
Toward this end, the District adopted an Anti-Racism Resolution, which serves as a pillar to actualizing this through a anti-racist and social justice lens as we serve every student in our schools. The District has also adopted a Bias Incident Complaint Procedure as part of the All Students Belong Policy, which establishes what constitutes a bias incident and outlines a procedure for handling incidents.
All students are entitled to a high quality educational experience, free from discrimination or harassment based on actual or perceived: color, disability, ethnicity, gender identity, linguistic diversity, nationality status, neurodiversity, national origin, race, religious or spiritual beliefs, sexual orientation, size/body type, or socioeconomic status.
Educational equity is based on the principle that each student receives what is required for them to achieve success with regard to allocation of resources, opportunity, treatment, and access.
We collectively work to remove barriers to learning by creating an inclusive, supportive, equitable, and safe learning environment free from harassment and discrimination.
Definitions
Bias/Prejudice
- An unjustified or incorrect attitude (usually negative) towards an individual based solely on the individual's membership in a social group.
Bullying
- Repeated unreasonable behaviour directed to a person or a group of people that creates a risk to their health and safety.
Discrimination
- The unfair or prejudicial treatment of people and groups based on characteristics such as race, gender, age, or sexual orientation.
Harassment
- Unwelcome and unsolicited behavior that would be considered to be offensive, intimidating, humiliating or threatening, because of a protected characteristic of the person.
Rights Under the Law
Title VI (1964)— Title VI of the Civil Rights Act
Title VI is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination based on race, color, or national origin in federally funded programs. This federal law explicitly states that “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of race, color, or national origin, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving any federal financial assistance.”
Title IX (1972)— Title IX of the Education Amendments Act
Title IX is a federal law that was passed to ensure that students and employees are treated fairly and equally regardless of their sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity. This was an amendment to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that prohibits discrimination on the basis of race. Title IX explicitly states: "No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, or denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any educational program or activity receiving federal assistance."
Protected Classes:
Race, religion, color, national or ethnic origin, mental or physical disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age
Title IX (gender-based, sex, and sexual orientation) and Title VI (race-based, nationality, and language) as well as Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act/ADA are federal laws that work in conjunction to ensure the rights of individuals of protected classes against discrimination. These federal laws explicitly prohibit discrimination on the basis of protected classes including race, color, national origin, sex, sexuality, disability and age.
Oregon Laws that Further Define & Protect Against Bullying, Harassment, and Discrimination
The Crown Act- prohibits discrimination based on protective hairstyles. Protective hairstyles are defined as “hair color or manner of wearing hair that includes, but is not limited to, braids, regardless of whether the braids are created with extensions or styled with adornments, locs, and twists.”
Sexual Harassment-Sexual harassment is a form of sex discrimination. When any person at the school (student, employee, or third party) experiences sexual harassment, the school has to respond to and investigate the harassment, provide supportive measures for harmed students, and remedy any hostile environment that occurs as a result of the harassment.
Senate Bill 819-“Students with disabilities have a right to meaningful access to the same number of hours of instruction and educational services as the majority of students without disabilities who are in the same grade within the student’s resident school district. Removal from school is neither a service nor support for students with disabilities.
Use of an abbreviated school day program for students with disabilities should be infrequent and, under most circumstances, should be used for a limited duration."
Our Responsibility
How we protect students & uphold the law
Riverdale’s Equity Team (comprised of administration, counseling, Director of Equity & Inclusion, Civil Rights & Title IX coordinator) works to support school students and staff to prevent and resolve incidents of bias, discrimination, harassment, and bullying by providing early interventions, training, and restorative justice to repair harm and ensure wellness.
All staff, students, and parents should report bias incidents if we experience, witness, or hear about an incident that involves bias, harassment, discrimination, or bullying, please report this to any staff member immediately. Reports can be made orally or in writing.
After a report is received, the Bias Incident Response Team utilizes trauma-informed practices to investigate the incident, respond to the harm, and creates interventions and learning engagements aimed at addressing the behaviors/actions with the individuals most directly involved as well as across our community within Riverdale School District. This collaborative effort works to ensure that students are protected from retaliation or intimidation while working toward accountability and growth for those who inflict harm.
Your Rights: What this means for Riverdale
Riverdale’s Non-Discrimination Policy dictates that we do not discriminate and prohibits discrimination and harassment on any basis protected by law in providing education or access to benefits of education services, activities, and programs in accordance with Titles VI and VII of the Civil Rights Act, Title IX of the Education Amendments, and other applicable civil rights or discrimination laws; Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act; the Americans with Disabilities Act; the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act; and Title II of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act.
Riverdale School District does not discriminate and prohibits discrimination and harassment in, but not limited to, employment, assignment and promotion of personnel; educational opportunities and services offered to students; student assignment to schools and classes; student discipline; location and use of facilities; educational offerings and materials; and accommodating the public meetings.
Important Safety Note
The Bias Incident Response Team at Riverdale School District reviews incident reports daily as we work to address issues of bias, discrimination, harassment, and bullying on campus. However, incident reports are not designed as an emergency notification process for response. If this is an emergency that requires immediate attention, please contact the appropriate emergency response services. Many are listed below. Please call or visit the website of Safe Oregon if you are in immediate danger or feel unsafe: 844-472-3367 or tip@safeoregon.com
Other resources you may want to contact include:
- Oregon Child Abuse Hotline: 1-855-503-SAFE (7233)
- SafeOregon: 1-844-472-3363
- Multnomah Crisis Line: (503) 988-4888
- Runaway Safeline: 1-800-786-2929
Contact Us
- Dr. Elizabeth Spaulding, Director of Equity & Inclusion: espaulding@riverdale.k12.or.us
- Chris Russo, Superintendent & Civil Rights/Title IX Coordinator: superintendent@riverdale.k12.or.us
2024: Equity Training at Riverdale
Anti-Harassment/Discrimination & Reporting of Discrimination TrainingJanuary 5, 2024
All Students in RSD will participate in a 2-hour assembly that focuses on understanding implicit bias, discrimination, harassment and bullying as well as ways to consciously and courageously interrupt these within themselves and their communities. The assemblies will highlight and focus on Riverdale and state policies/laws around identifying, interrupting, and preventing discrimination.  Grade school and high school students will have separate assemblies with differentiated content appropriate to their age. At the grade school, kindergarten-4th graders will attend one assembly and 5th-8th graders another. Working with Riverdale administration’s oversight and input, our partners at the Center for Equity and Inclusion will facilitate these assemblies. The District’s Equity Team (consisting of District leadership and leaders) will hold follow up sessions with students to address student rights related to harassment, bullying, and discrimination, how to report harassment, and how to make a complaint, including contact information for individuals to report to. These assemblies will be held by January 31, 2024.  All staff and school board members in RSD will also participate in a 3-hour training that focuses on understanding implicit bias, discrimination, harassment and bullying as well as ways to consciously and courageously interrupt these within themselves and their communities. These trainings will discuss and expound upon Riverdale and state policies/laws related to identifying, interrupting and preventing discrimination. The training will be overseen by District leadership, and facilitated by the Center for Equity and Inclusion. These trainings will be completed by January 31, 2024. By aligning all cohorts on the content covered in the Equity Foundations Training, Riverdale will be working towards embedding an understanding of equity throughout their staff while also creating space for student leadership, student voice, and fostering partnership between staff and students.  Equity Foundations training will occur over 2.5 days. This is an in-person learning intensive focused on building relationships, learning agreements and building a foundation for diversity, equity, and inclusion. CEI, with District oversight and input, will facilitate these trainings. Student Council/leadership training will occur by June 30th 2024. School board training will be complete by the end of the summer. Staff training will start and go through the 2024-25' school year. |
Oregon & Federal Laws
|
Documents & Resources
Students: Legal Rights and Resources
|
|
|
|
|
|
Immigration Resources
- Red Cards: Outlines constitutional rights and provides a script for encounters with immigration agents/enforcement (available in multiple languages).
- Immigration Advocates Network: A national directory listing over 950 free or low-cost nonprofit immigration legal service providers across the U.S.
- Anti-Fraud Information: Flyers in English & Spanish designed to protect against fraudulent legal service providers.
- Family Preparedness: proactive planning resources regarding care of children if parents become detained or deported
“Anxious Generation” Book Study
Riverdale Land Acknowledgement
We would like to acknowledge and honor the Indigenous people on whose traditional and ancestral homelands the Riverdale School District is located: the Multnomah, Kathlamet, Clackamas, Tumwater, and Watalala bands of the Chinook; the Tualatin Kalapuya; and many other Indigenous nations of the Columbia River.
It is important to acknowledge the ancestors of this place and recognize that we are here because of the sacrifices forced upon them. In remembering these communities, we honor their legacy, their lives, and their descendants.*
*This Land Acknowledgement is adapted from Lewis and Clark College