Rachael Blansett Named First ORCSD DEIJ Coordinator

  Rachael Blansett, New ORCSD DEIJ Coordinator.  

Congratulations to Rachael Blansett (pronouns she/her), who was chosen tonight as Oyster River's first Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Justice Coordinator.  The board deliberated in non-public session for 30 minutes before unanimously approving Rachael to the position.  Assuming she accepts, Ms. Blansett will attend the next board meeting, June 15, and officially start August 1.

Rachael identifies as a "black/bi-racial, queer, femme social justice educator."  She has a Master of Education in Student Affairs from Iowa State.  Since August 2021 she's been employed jointly by Sterling College (Bar Harbor, Maine) and College of the Atlantic (Craftsbury Common, Vermont) at a salary of $53-$57K.  She'll be offered at least $95K by ORCSD, about a 75% increase. 

Rachael and her friend have a podcast named 2 Happy Heaxes that's a bit shocking to some Oyster River folks, easily making her the more controversial candidate.  I originally used that word in the title here, which offended some folks so I've changed it.  I just wanted to get the discussion going, and that seems to have worked.

The board asked some questions in public before the non-public session. Member Smith praised Racheal's concern for "educational accessibility."  Member Turell praised Rachael's experience "designing DEIJ specific curricula, like leading workshops or discussions about implicit bias or different lenses on this work" but was concerned with "her relative lack of experience in K-12 system and especially working directly with faculty on something that's not DEIJ focused but rather weaving DEIJ through an existing history or math or art curriculum."  The superintendent replied, "In terms of her relative lack of K-12 experience, we could have focused in on K-12 experience, but based on the candidates we had we would have lost completely the lived experience." 

I found this exchange telling. The superintendent appears to be saying we wouldn't get a member of a marginalized group if we insist on actual K-12 experience, and we're prioritizing the former.  (The possibility of not hiring anyone this round was not mentioned.)  And I’d agree with Yusi that workshop or discussion prep is very different than experience with classroom curricula.

The superintendent added, "She's going to define this role in the upcoming year,  The greatest gift Oyster River can give her is a strong understanding of who we are. [...] So we need somebody who not just supports the teachers, but who understands those student concerns, and is able to hear the students, but also help the teachers address those issues.  I feel she will grow to be a powerful leader...She has the potential to be an incredible leader.  I know that she has the potential to support our staff and students."

My concern here is by putting the onus of defining the position on Ms. Blansett, we're making it harder for her to succeed.  

I reviewed some of the publicly available material in the last post.  For now, let's look at her bio for her current job and the recent podcast titles on her site. Click the images to enlarge.

Rachel Blansett's Bio from College of the Atlantic

Racheal Blansett's recent podcasts

We may be wading into some controversial waters. I don't know if Rachael plans to continue her podcast. The question mark in the original title of this post was my concern about how the role will unfold, and whether Rachael will be indeed happy in the position. Much will depend on the community reaction; I was surprised that there were no public comments at the board meeting, 

I am totally impressed with the graphic art of these thumbnails.

The superintendent chose Rachael Blansett over the other finalist, Lu Ferrell (pronouns they/them).  Dr. Morse said Rachael was the overwhelming choice of teachers, with only one expressing a preference for "the other candidate".  I heard the students also expressed a preference for Rachael, as did I.

Rachael is also a New Hampshire Listens / UNH Carsey School of Public Policy Fellow.  I don't know if that's a paid position, or if Rachael will continue to hold that title while employed at ORCSD.  There's some controversy that New Hampshire Listens facilitated the rather secretive process that resulted in a recommendation to add a DEIJ Coordinator, that was ultimately filled by a New Hampshire Listens Fellow.  Board Member Turell is also employed by the Carsey School, in a different area. 

My existing concern was that the district was too small to support such a position, that maybe the DEIJ coordinator should be shared across several districts, like Rachael's current job. We now see a related concern, that just posting a large salary doesn't guarantee we'll get the experience, both lived and in the classroom, that we desire. We probably could have hired Rachael for a fair bit less.  

Good luck, DEIJ Coordinator Blansett. I wish you success in your new role.

[EDIT: 6/2/22] Be sure to check out the ORHS student magazine Mouth of the River article by Zoe Selig on the new DEIJ coordinator.