Ruth Sample Argues Against ORCSD's Proposed DEIJ Coordinator Position

[ORCSDCleanSlate accepts occasional essays from the Oyster River citizenry for publication, like this rather brave one here from UNH professor Ruth Sample.  Professor Sample intends to present an amendment on this issue at tonight's Deliberative Session (Tuesday Feb 7, 7pm ORHS auditorium) so I recommend supporters and opponents of this position attend.  

Full Disclosure: Dr. Sample and I have been married for 30 years. As a public service I provide all my spouses, I've included a link to the November 18 Budget Workshop Video and insets with the DEIJ job description from the February 5 board minutes for reference.  - Dean]

WHY WE SHOULD REMOVE THE DEIJ COORDINATOR FROM THE ORCSD BUDGET

                         - Ruth Sample, Lee

Executive Summary

·       We need to address the pressing DEIJ concerns of the school district. 

·       The current proposal prematurely creates a new administrative position that cannot address these concerns.

·       This proposal was generated without a Needs Assessment and without the creation of an action plan with measurable outcomes.

·       Before creating a new DEIJ position, we should hire one or more consultants with the relevant expertise to conduct such an assessment and create an actionable plan for ORCSD.

·       DEIJ must include disability as a focus of our concern.

 

 

1.  Some people may disagree with the need for addressing DEIJ issues in the district.  I do not.  I think it is extremely important that we have a plan for addressing a whole range of problems related to DEIJ.  The problems identified so far involve student behavior and language, diversifying our faculty, the difficulty of discussing both history and current events in a politically charged atmosphere, communicating with the public about DEIJ issues, and managing the HB2 “divisive concepts” law.

We need to address all of these issues.

Proposed Job Description

2. The proposed budget includes a line item for a DEIJ administrator at an ongoing cost of over $100,000 plus “exceptional benefits.”  This new position is supposed to address these problems.

However, it is clear that no one person can solve the problems discussed in the Budget Workshop.  Creating this position is premature.

Job Description, part 2

The requirements listed in the job description, as well as discussed in the Budget Workshop presentation, make this clear.  I listened with great interest as ORHS math teacher Vivian Jablonski described some of the behavioral incidents that provided challenges for classroom teachers.  Dr. Morse described some of the challenges he faces when dealing with these problems because, as he put it, he lacks “lived experience.”  A DEIJ Coordinator is supposed to remedy this.

However, someone without experience in classroom teaching, curriculum development, human resources, and education law cannot address the problems that motivated this proposal.   The position as described does not call for expertise in any single one of these areas.  It is doubtful we could find someone with experience in all of them.

 

3.  Did the board consider hiring an experienced consultant to get us to a place where we can more clearly define what needs to be done, who should be doing it, how it should be done before we establish a permanent administrative position? The same money (without benefits) would get ORCSD 40 full days or 80 half days of consulting- which would provide ORHS with full day consulting nearly once/week or half day consulting twice/week. A more strategic way to approach DEIJ would be to start with an experienced consultant who can conduct a needs assessment and establish an action plan with measurable goals.

Board member Tom Newkirk raised an important point in the Budget Workshop:  he pointed out that we would need to hire one or more consultants with specific expertise in multiple areas, because whoever filled this position would not have sufficient expertise.  The cost of the consultants would be in addition to the DEIJ administrator.

As board member Brian Cisneros pointed out, it is not possible to measure whether the DEIJ Coordinator is succeeding at their job.  He is also correct when he said that it is not possible to explain this position, because the actual day-to-day duties of the DEIJ Coordinator are broad and poorly defined.

 

4.  I suggest we start by hiring a consultant who can conduct a needs assessment and establish an action plan.  This plan would include measurable benchmarks of success. Hiring a very experienced consultant at, let’s say, $2500 a day would be far more flexible and cost effective than would be a permanent administrator at over $100,000 plus benefits—as well as unspecified consulting costs to help the administrator “fill in the gaps.”  We should explore writing a grant to fund this.

 

5.  Finally, whatever we decide to do, DEIJ must be more broadly construed.  The presentation to the Budget Workshop mentioned racial slurs in online chats, swastikas, the use of gender-neutral bathrooms, and George Floyd.  There was no discussion at all of disability.  In any given year, approximately 15% of our students in the district have disabilities with Individual Educational Plans or 504s.  The proposed position, as described, in no way includes those with disabilities.