*When signing please put your relation to Nicolet as a comment: Community Member, Parent, Class of 'xx, Teacher*

We are calling for Nicolet High School Administration and the school board to fight systemic racism at Nicolet High School (NHS). Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) in our school face several obstacles, such as experiencing microaggressions or restrictive curriculums not representative of diverse perspectives and voices. This petition serves to highlight areas for improvement, not to point fingers at any specific group of people. Fighting systemic racism is not a political issue but a human rights issue and a fight for equity. 

As stated on the school’s website, “Nicolet High School promotes intellectual discovery, inspires creativity, embraces diversity, and encourages students to become enlightened, humane, responsible citizens.” To achieve this mission statement, steps have to be taken to create an inclusive curriculum and learning environment where all feel welcome and heard. Embracing diversity comes with including and listening to BIPOC voices.

We are calling for Nicolet High School to create a more inclusive environment for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) by having more BIPOC in teacher and administrative roles. To create a more inclusive curriculum that reflects diverse perspectives and voices, we ask that Nicolet creates opportunities to address topics such as systemic racism, racial and socioeconomic privilege, BIPOC history, cultural appropriation, and other social injustices. 

This petition is about human rights, as systemic racism is still present in education, sometimes in hidden ways. Ignoring this initiative ignores the problems that BIPOC students face in our school communities. This inequity is apparent through statistical data. According to Propublica’s Report of Nicolet High School, Black students make up 21% of the student population, but Black students only make up 8% of students enrolled in Advanced Placement (AP) courses. In contrast, White students make up 62% of the student body at Nicolet and make up 75% of the students enrolled in AP courses. Another disparity shows itself in school discipline data.  Black students, although they make up only 21% of the school population at Nicolet High School represent almost half (48%) of the out of school suspensions and are 4.2x as likely to be suspended than white students. For more information, reference Propublica’s report on Nicolet.

As we continue to engage in tough conversations about inequity, racism, bias, and discrimination, we are taking the steps needed to create an accepting school community environment for all students to succeed regardless of religion, race, sexual orientation, gender, class, and ethnic background. 

We want: 

1. A curriculum that will present an accurate BIPOC perspective of academic subjects, including topics such as systemic racism, racial and socioeconomic privilege, and other social issues. 
2. An increased amount of BIPOC staff, such as teachers and administrators.
3. Encourage BIPOC students to take honors or AP-level courses from freshman year and middle schools.
4. To have transparency and equity within disciplinary policies and data. 
5. The expansion of programs training faculty and students to identify and react appropriately to hate speech and microaggressions.
6. A safe place for BIPOC and allies to discuss systemic issues present in society, especially schools, regarding race and other inequities.

Thank you for reading, and we ask you to share this petition with the Nicolet and Glendale community. Together we will create a more inclusive learning environment for BIPOC. 

*When signing please put your relation to Nicolet as a comment: Community Member, Parent, Class of 'xx, Teacher*