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| Lu Ferrell (left) and Rachael Blansett Finalists for ORCSD DEIJ Coordinator |
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| Distributed information, click to enlarge |
The two finalists for Oyster River's Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Justice Coordinator (draft job description) are Lu Ferrell and Rachael Blansett. They did full day tours and interviews Monday 5/10 and Wednesday 5/12 respectively, including 45 minutes to meet the community.
TL;DR: Rachael identifies as a "black/bi-racial, queer, femme social justice educator" while Lu is more circumspect, offering "intersectional DEIJ professional" who serves on "the Transgender Policy and Climate Committee and the Queer Professional Development Working Group." I think Lu has more experience overall. Rachael seems much more fun than Lu, so if it was up to me, I'd choose Rachael easily.
Neither has any experience in primary or secondary education, or much curriculum experience, which the superintendent has indicated is the primary component of the job. They had similar qualifications and similar ideas as to what the job may entail (lots of relationship building, which I guess means lunch). Both have Masters of Education degrees in Student Affairs. They're both currently New Hampshire Listen Fellows. I'll guess landing a job that pays "$95,00[sic] - $105,000 with exceptional benefits" represents a pretty big bump for either of them. Rachael is probably the more controversial of the two, with her podcast 2 Happy Heauxes and their alter-egos, "two bitter bitches," bound to raise some eyebrows.
The two finalists were selected by the fifteen member DEIJ Coordinator Hiring Committee of parents, students, teachers and administrators. There were forty-two applications, eighteen complete with video and essay components. Six candidates were brought in for interviews, and Lu and Rachael were the selected finalists. Superintendent Morse will recommend a candidate to the board, who then vote on final approval. I didn't see it on the May 18 agenda.
I attended the Community sessions to meet the DEIJ Coordinator finalists on Monday and Wednesday. I was late both times for the 5:45-6:30 meetings. I missed most of the candidates' statements, but was there for the questions and some "informal time." I jotted down a few notes which I'll share after reviewing the publicly available information.
We can start with the distributed summaries, included above. I presume these blurbs were prepared by ORCSD from some source material, so, except for the final quotes, cannot be considered writing samples from the candidates. I also presume the candidates provided graduation dates, which are sadly lacking here. Just reviewing these I'd take away that Lu has more experience and a somewhat broader focus than Rachael, who seems more focused on racism.
Both are fellows of New Hampshire Listens/Carsey School @ UNH. Lu told me that being a Fellow was a paid contract position. I didn't get an answer as to how one becomes a fellow. New Hampshire Listens was central in facilitating the meetings that led to a recommendation to hire a DEIJ Coordinator. Board Member Turell, an enthusiastic supporter of the position, is also employed by the Carsey School, in an unrelated capacity (solar power financing, I believe). The appearance of a conflict of interest has been pointed out by some community members. I've always believed Member Turell consistently acts in the best interest of the Oyster River School District, and I have no reason to believe otherwise here.
Let's try Google. Just the front page search results offer interesting portraits (click to enlarge).
Lu Ferrell, pronouns they/them, selected links:
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| Lu Ferrell |
https://carsey.unh.edu/person/lu-ferrell
https://northeastextensionlgbtqsymposium.com/speaker/lu-ferrell/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/luferrell/
https://tnhdigital.com/19789/news/unh-celebrates-national-coming-out-week/
https://www.lgbtcampus.org/index.php?option=com_ccboard&view=postlist&forum=9&topic=756&Itemid=
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=191573385837187
Rachael Blansett, pronouns she/her, selected links:
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| Rachael Blansett |
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachael-blansett-7573ab72/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachael-blansett-7573ab72/ Are You Down With the Cause?
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachael-blansett-7573ab72 White Tears In the Classroom
https://www.coa.edu/live/profiles/4219-rachael-a-blansett/templates/details/staff.php
https://www.sterlingcollege.edu/blog/rachael-blansett-appointed-diversity-inclusion-fellow/
https://rachaelblansett.wordpress.com/personal-mission-statement/
Rachael's podcasts aren't that exciting, but some of the language is probably not what Oyster River parents want their Oyster River children to hear. I presume it isn't the language Rachael would use with students, but the students are bound to find the podcasts sooner rather than later, so it's gonna come up.
I've been making slow progress on this post since last Wednesday. It's time for me to just summarize my notes and get this out.
Last Monday, at Lu Ferrell's session, I asked what were we to infer given only women ORCSD administrators (Filippone, Noe) and board members (Turrell, Day, Smith) showed up for the community session. On Wednesday Chair Williams attended Rachel Blansett's session, modestly introducing himself as a district parent and board member.
Lu Ferrell is on the cutting edge of verbing nouns, using "misgendered" and "microaggressed." Lu admits, "this work is hard to measure." [Lu shares our superintendent's penchant for the phrase "this work."] Lu's conception of the role includes: professional development for staff, empowering students, utilizing my UNH connections and getting DEIJ in the strategic plan. Lu says it's a misconception that DEIJ is only for marginalized students. "No, it's for all students."
Rachael Blansett lists five areas of qualification: race, gender, sexuality, ability and class. For the role, Rachael mentions building relationships, gathering contexts, professional development opportunities for faculty, student support, syllabus/lesson plan audits, determining gaps, needs, priorities, getting to know the community, and getting known. If hired, Rachel plans to work on getting up to speed on early education (primary grades).
That's all I have. It looks like one way or another, we're getting a DEIJ Coordinator. I saw some language where the superintendent can choose not to hire this year if he thinks no candidate is sufficiently qualified. But it's probably more likely we're getting one of these two as DEIJ coordinator. I hope it's Rachael.
