A group of Amity High School parents is calling for greater diversity, equity and inclusion in the school district.

Nazorine Ulysse's son is a junior at Amity High School. Ulysse says her eighth grader won't be going there next year because of concerns she has about racial inequalities.

"Over the years my kids have been called the N-word, all sorts of things," said Ulysse.

She and Emily Melnick are two moms from Woodbridge who've recently formed a group calling for change in the district.

"The sole content of Black History Month was a Kanye West video advocating for the eradication of Black History Month," said Melnick.

Melnick says that's what led her to get involved.

She says the group includes about 40 parents from Woodbridge, Bethany and Orange who believe in teaching kids how to live in a multicultural world.

"Regardless of what the composition of students looks like at Amity," said Melnick.

Statistics from the state Department of Education show Black students make up 3.6% of the population.

News 12 is told many are from New Haven and attend Amity as part of the Open Choice Program.

"We have a curriculum that is extremely euro-centric and that curriculum doesn't help us move forward to heal our country," said Ulysse.

In a statement to News 12 that is included in full below, Superintendent Dr. Jennifer Byars says work is already underway. A consultant will undertake a two-to-three-year systematic curriculum review process aimed in part at addressing social and cultural diversity.

She says changes have already been made to a world history unit.

Byars adds teachers and administrators have diversity training each spring, but these moms say its not enough.

"We all have to do our part. It can't just be 'Let me put my head down and if my kid's doing fine, then that doesn't matter,'" said Ulysse.

The group invites anyone to join and offer up ideas for a solution. Anyone interested in joining the group can send an email to nulysse1976@gmail.com.

Full statement from Superintendent Dr. Jennifer Byars outlining ongoing efforts:

Starting last summer, the summer, the District worked with a consultant to begin a 2-3 year systematic curriculum review process. Part of this work has been aimed at addressing social and cultural diversity in literature, reflecting multiple perspectives in STEM courses, and continue to expand our resources for all disciplines.

Also in summer 2020, the World History Teachers revised the first unit to focus more on a collective world view and not such a Euro-centric view that focused only on the French Revolution. The new unit, implemented this school year and entitled "Power to the People," focuses on revolution and includes countries and continents from all over the world like Africa, Latin American countries and South America.

The District Director of Curriculum and Instruction and Department Chair of our Social Studies Department have been in communication with the CSDE regarding the development of the mandated elective course of African American and Latinx Studies. Based on the communications, we understand the state will have a course and curriculum ready for the 2022-2023 school year. The district will adopt this course for the 2022-2023 school year in order to 1) adopt the formal, required state curriculum through District Steering and the Board of Education Curriculum Committees; 2) budget for instructional materials; 3) avail teachers of the training CSDE is required to provide to teachers prior to implementation of this course; and 4) sufficiently promote the course in the Program of Studies to increase student enrollment in the elective.

Since spring of 2018, Amity teachers and administrators have annually engaged in training on diversity, equity, implicit bias, and social justice. This training has been provided by NCCJ, the ADL, and during this past school year, Courageous Conversations.

The One Book One Amity Program focused on racism and implicit bias in the whole school Book for 2019-2020 – All American Boys.

Along with the work noted above, the visual and performing arts department has worked to infused culturally significant art and performance in to the daily curriculum, specifically including black artists in "drawing and painting" and "concert band" classes throughout the month of February. Social Studies classes have included more diverse perspectives and experiences, such as the Tulsa Race Massacre, in to the curriculum this year. Finally, the library media specialists are using a large portion of their budgeted funds to purchase non-fiction texts focused around the theme of social justice, many specifically addressing the issue of racism.

We have an explicit district policy, procedure, and practice on addressing bullying that is aligned to state statute. The manner in which a bullying investigation is conducted is the same for all students, regardless of any protected class. Administrators receive training annually in conducting investigations. For the past 2 years, we have worked on incorporating restorative practices and measures in response to bullying behavior – as opposed to simply administering disciplinary punishments.

We continue to engage with student organized and run clubs. For example, in September 2020, 5 students reached out to the school principal with requests and suggestions for improving diversity education and creating a more inclusive climate for the school. These students, including members of the Student Government and Diversity in Action – both student-run and organized clubs – became part of the planning team for Spartan Seminar – the twice monthly advisory program. School administration would not have denied any student group from helping to plan the recognition of Black History Month. We would have expected the students to work closely with the administration in the planning process and while the plans would have required administrative review and approval, the Amity staff works closely with students to honor the ideas and concepts presented by student clubs and organizations.