Falmouth Superintendent Proposes Full-Time DEI Position For Schools; George Spivey To Serve In Interim
Following the resignation of Falmouth’s diversity, equity, and inclusion officer Jacquelyn Hartman last week, Falmouth Public Schools Superintendent Lori S. Duerr has made a proposal to introduce a full-time DEI position to the school district.
Dr. Duerr presented the proposal to the school committee at its meeting on Tuesday, March 8. The key difference is that the position as Dr. Duerr proposed would be dedicated to assisting the school district full-time, as opposed to the position Ms. Hartman filled, which was split equally between serving both the school district and the town.
In a phone call with the Enterprise, Dr. Duerr said she thinks it would be beneficial to have a DEI officer dedicated to the school district full-time to ensure that there are no gaps in DEI initiatives or services for both students and staff.
“I wanted this position for a long time and I was thrilled when the town had agreed to share a position,” she said. “We wanted to make sure that the job description was correct and that took time, but now we know what the community wants [and] we know what the schools want around this position, so we don’t have to take the time to revisit that job description.”
Dr. Duerr said she is expanding the job description for the school-specific position, as the school district has more programmatic needs than the general town does when it comes to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
The proposal was warmly received by committee members, many of whom were pleased to hear that plans for a seamless transition are already being put into action. Dr. Duerr said she will present the committee with a job description for the proposed position on March 22, and it will be voted on at the first April meeting. If approved, it will then be listed. Dr. Duerr would like to have someone hired by July 1.
In the meantime, Dr. Duerr said the school district has extended the contracts of Seyana Mawusi and George Spivey to provide DEI services through the end of the school year.
Ms. Mawusi is an educator with a background in leadership development, curriculum design, mindfulness, racial equity and restorative and social justice.
“Since Jackie Hartman has resigned, I wanted to make sure that the work was going to continue and that we really didn’t feel any gap with all of the efforts that we’ve been making,” Dr. Duerr said. “Dr. Mawusi is really focused on all the strategies with staff, professional development support, workshops, that type of thing. George Spivey is actually working directly with students, offering some programming, which is exciting.”
Mr. Spivey has also been appointed as acting DEI officer for both the town and school district, effectively filling Ms. Hartman’s position until a new person can be hired. He served as the affirmative action officer for both the town and the school district from 2000 to 2013.
The school district will also be retaining the services of DEI specialists Curtis Bates and Kalise Wornum, both of whom have assisted in various programs focusing on professional development, cultural proficiency and restorative practices. Their contracts have also been extended through the end of the school year.
“We still have a lot of internal types of activities that our students are involved in,” Dr. Duerr said. “At the high school, we have the student group Clippers for Racial and Social Justice; two of our assistant principals have developed courses that are voluntary for our staff around cultural proficiency. There’s a lot of things that we’ve been doing, and those are a couple of examples. We’re continuing all that work.”