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Local equity group urges Holliston School Committee to center equity audit and strategic plan in superintendent search
Summary
During public comment the group Diverse Holliston asked the committee to require that the superintendent search consultant use the district strategic plan and the district's equity audit to produce candidate criteria and hiring mechanisms.
At the Sept. 25 Holliston School Committee meeting, a representative of Diverse Holliston asked the committee to ensure the superintendent search centers the district's strategic plan and the findings of the district's equity audit.
Barb Worby, speaking for Diverse Holliston, said the qualities the town expects in the next superintendent are already codified in the Holliston Public Schools 2022'2027 strategic plan and in the district's equity audit. Worby asked the committee to instruct the search consultant to use those documents when crafting a leadership profile and to recommend hiring mechanisms and accountability structures that specifically address gaps identified in the equity audit.
Worby read a written submission the group had shared earlier with the committee and told the panel the search consultant's recommendations "should include the mechanisms by which you will find and hire a superintendent who has experience and expertise addressing the specific gaps in equity that were highlighted in the Holliston Public Schools equity audit report."
Worby also relayed a comment from Kevin Fair, who requested she read his brief statement. Fair said he believed past district actions had not consistently advanced teacher diversity, and he asked the committee to make staffing diversity an explicit expectation for the next superintendent. Worby said Fair's children, who are mixed race, do not see themselves represented among staff at the Miller school.
Worby said Diverse Holliston planned to meet with two school committee liaisons to follow up and offered the group's local expertise as a resource that would not require additional budgetary approval.
What the committee heard: the committee allowed the public comment and acknowledged the written submission; the request asked that the search process and any hired consultant explicitly prioritize the strategic plan'identified values and the equity audit'identified gaps when building candidate criteria. The committee did not take formal action during public comment; the comment was recorded in the public record for the search process.
Sources: public comment by Barb Worby, Diverse Holliston, Sept. 25 meeting transcript.
