Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE)

Racial Imbalance Advisory Council

The Racial Imbalance Advisory Council (RIAC) advises the Commissioner of Education and the Board of Education on matters pertinent to racial imbalance in schools and districts across the Commonwealth. Specifically, the Council will:

  • assesses statewide trends and needs;
  • seek public and professional input;
  • analyze information regarding racial imbalance;
  • advise and make recommendations regarding legislation, regulations and program guidelines; and
  • provide other programmatic recommendations as it deems necessary to fulfill the goals established by the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education.

Meeting Schedule

Meeting Date & TimeMeeting LocationMeeting Minutes
Monday, October 7, 2024 from 9:30–11:00am Zoom — Registration closed 10/7/2024 Minutes
Monday, November 18, 2024 from 9:30–11:00am Zoom — Registration closed 11/18/2024 Minutes
Monday, January 13, 2025 from 9:30–11:00am Zoom — Registration closed 1/13/2025 Minutes
Monday, February 10, 2025 from 9:30–11:00am Zoom — Registration closed 2/10/2025 Minutes
Monday, March 24, 2025 from 9:30–11:00am Zoom — Registration closed
Friday, May 23, 2025 from 9:30–11:00am Zoom — Register as attendee
Monday, June 2, 2025 from 9:30–11:00am Zoom — Registration not yet open
(TBD) Monday, June 16, 2025 from 9:30–11:00am Zoom — Registration not yet open

2024-2025 RIAC Council Members

CouncilmemberTitle
Darlene SpencerProgram Officer at the Carney Family Charitable Foundation
Jorge FanjulExecutive Director at Latinos for Education, Massachusetts
José Lugo, M.A.Native Education Council Facilitator; Native Education Liaison at Collaborative for Educational Services
Josephine M. Kim, Ph.D., LMHC, NCCFaculty, Harvard Graduate School of Education
Julia JarquinStudent at Wellesley Public Schools
Lamikco T. Magee, M.Ed., J.D.Dean at Amherst Regional Public Schools
Lateefah FranckDirector of Equity, Integration, and Community Partnerships
Westwood Public Schools
Laurie HunterSuperintendent of Schools, Concord Public Schools and Concord Carlisle Regional School District
Marieme NgomStudent at Framingham Public Schools
Matt BrunellCo-Executive Director of Springfield Empowerment Zone Partnership (SEZP)
Monica RobertsCEO — Girl Scouts of Eastern MA
Renée Heywood, Ph.D.CEO/Founder of Real Talk Leadership

Contact Information

DESE Liaison
Sylvia Lam
Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
135 Santilli Highway, Everett, MA 02149
Telephone: 781-338-3567

Resources

Annual Reports to the Board of Education

Related Resources

  • Chapter 15: Section 1I
  • Chapter 15: Section 1J
  • Chapter 76: Section 12A
  • Chapter 71: Section 37C
  • Chapter 71: Section 37D
  • Chapter 71: Section 37I & 37J

  • Charles V. Willie, Ph.D., & Michael Alves, Ed.M. (1996); Controlled Choice: A New Approach To Desegregated Education and School Improvement. Education Alliance Press.

  • Carl A. Grant (1995); Educating for Diversity: An Anthology of Multicultural Voices. Allyn & Bacon

  • Schott Foundation for Public Education (2008). Given half a chance: The Schott 50 state report on pulbic education and black males. Executive Summary. Cambridge, MA: Author. Retrieved October 20, 2008

  • Singleton, G. E. & Linton, C. (2006). Courageous conversations about race: A field guide for achieving equity in schools. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

  • Uriarte, M., Chen, J., & Kala, M. (2007). Where we go to school… Latino students and the public schools of Boston. Boston, MA: The Mauricio Gaston Institute for Latino community Development and Public Policy. Retrieved on October 20, 2008

  • Noguera, P. & Wing, J. Y. (eds.) (2006). Unfinished business: Closing the racial achievement gap in our schools. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Last Updated: April 30, 2025

Top