Burlington Schools Begin Search For New School Diversity Director

BURLINGTON, MA — Burlington Public Schools have begun searching for the new Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion position created by a town meeting vote in September.

The district posted a job listing with the Massachusetts superintendents association Friday.

Town meeting members voted in Sept. to provide the School Committee $81,000 in funding to hire the position. The initial article specified that the money would go to wages, but that language was amended away.

Some town meeting members worried about the budget impact and wanted to postpone the article or amend it further, but it passed 73 to 33. Members of the school Equity Committee argued that the town has put off dealing with bigotry at the schools for too long.

The new director will be a member of the superintendent's leadership team and report directly to the superintendent or a designee.

Responsibilities of the director will include:

• "Work with the district leadership team to identify, assess, and create action plans to address institutional biases and structural racism in district programs and practices, and their associated impacts on underserved and underrepresented communities.
• Using disaggregated data, prepare actionable items and metrics to close the opportunity gap and reduce discipline and attendance disparities, when present.
• Work with the leadership team to support the hiring, retention, and promotion of a diverse workforce.
• Collaborate with curriculum leaders to identify more culturally responsive and justice-oriented learning opportunities and to modify curricula, as needed."

See the full job posting here.

Christopher Huffaker can be reached at 412-265-8353 or chris.huffaker@patch.com.