As an agency that supports school districts across the state, SERC is reeling from the unspeakable and incomprehensible mass shooting that took the lives of 19 children and two adults at the Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. We remember Sandy Hook in our state nearly 10 years ago, and the many other mass shootings since that have rattled the communities where we live and work. We should not be here yet again, nor should we become numb to the senseless acts of gun violence across the country that continue to threaten the lives of even our young, innocent students and dedicated educators. Our communities must be safe for children to go to school as well as for families to go shopping, attend religious services, and pursue everyday activities without living in fear.

In these difficult times, we need to care for one another and lean on each other to support the well-being of our children and ourselves. Below are some resources for educators, parents, and others from “Teaching on Days After: Dialogue & Resources for Educating Toward Justice”:

Recent violence across the nation, including the mass shooting at a Buffalo supermarket, underscores that dismantling systemic racism is not an academic abstraction or a choice. It is an obligation right in front of us, not only as staff of the State Education Resource Center but within our duty as educators, citizens of this nation, members of the global community, and human beings. Buffalo in 2022, like Charleston in 2015 and Tulsa in 1921 and every senseless incident past and present that ends innocent Black lives, is not one more isolated tragedy; this happens again and again and again because racism is a systemic threat woven into the nation’s story. We wish we could end all hate, but we can meet our responsibility to respond to it the best way we know how: educating to build understanding and empowerment, centering the voices of our brothers and sisters who regularly feel left out or targeted for who they are, and confronting the oppression that would silence them. When we offer platitudes of sympathy but deny that it was systemic racism that deliberately brought terror to a routine day, we tolerate more violence and yet another period of mourning. Instead, we must continue to strengthen our resolve on behalf of all who came before and for those we mourn today. Their beautiful lives, the pain of those they left behind, the trauma of the witnesses, and the fear in so many of our communities demand we fight unequivocally against white supremacy, white nationalism, anti-Blackness, and racism in all of its forms. SERC needs and welcomes partners in this fight.

The following documents were disseminated in support of the Building Capacity and Establishing Sustainable Supports Summit, the IDEA Part B FY 23 Subgrantee Application Updates trainings, and the IDEA Grant Training for new Directors of Special Education Training, held in Fall 2021 and Winter 2022.

• Day 1 Summit presentation powerpoint
• Day 2 Summit presentation powerpoint
• Brainstorming Compilation
• Final Goal Setting Worksheet
• Final LEA Goal and Source Timeline Worksheet
• Summit Q&A Document
• New Director IDEA Grant Training
• FY23 IDEA Part B: changes and explanations Training

Contact CT State Department of Education Consultant Thomas Boudreau (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) with any questions.