FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 1, 2021
CONTACT Edwin Stubbs Edwin@narrative-project.com 973.223.0525
WATERBURY, CT – Radical Advocates for Cross-Cultural Education (RACCE) Executive Director Robert M. Goodrich will address the State Board of Education Wednesday requesting that Waterbury’s ARP application be held as inadequate by the SDE until resident feedback is considered on how best to allocate $89.6 million in COVID-19 relief funding made possible by the American Rescue Plan (ARP). “The Waterbury Board of Education and the district leadership staff have failed to adequately address concerns from the community regarding the distribution of COVID-19 relief funding,” said RACCE Executive Director Robbie Goodrich. "Instead of directing critical aid to students, teachers, and staff, the district’s leadership team has instead decided to spend $55.1 million on building maintenance against the expressed wishes of RACCE and other Waterbury community groups.” For months, RACCE and other community organizations have implored Waterbury’s Board of Education to invest COVID-19 relief funds directly into students, educators, staff, and programming. Waterbury currently plans to allocate over $90 million of the $143.3 million towards building maintenance. In May, June and July of this year, RACCE hosted community forums where community members provided input on the Board’s proposed plan. This testimony was not recorded by school officials, and subsequently ignored. “The Board of Education and district leadership must take local community organizations into consideration when making these kinds of decisions, which they have failed to do,” said Goodrich. “RACCE and other Waterbury community groups maintain that property should be maintained and upgraded through a capital improvement plan, not through emergency federal funding originally intended to directly help our communities.”
# # #
About Radical Advocates for Cross-Cultural Education (R.A.C.C.E.) Our mission is to challenge systems of oppression by advocating for culturally competent educational practices. Therefore, we believe the most effective way to triumph over systemic forms of oppression is to have an educational system that serves the historically underserved and underrepresented. This can only be accomplished if we advocate for an educational system that is positioned to provide culturally competent school professionals and curriculum, human services, and disciplinary policies, which combat: generational poverty, achievement gaps, implicit and explicit biases towards race, ethnicity and gender.RACCE Executive Director Robert M. Goodrich Addresses State Board of Education Regarding Waterbury Public School’s Allocation of The American Rescue Plan (ARP) COVID Relief Funds