Gateway School Board postpones equity director hiring until after November election

A controversial administrative position at Gateway School District will remain unfilled until at least after the upcoming November election.

Board members voted 5-3 at their Sept. 27 meeting to adopt a resolution solidifying the hiring postponement.

Those in favor of the delay were president Brian Goppman, John Ritter, Mary Beth Cirucci, Scott Williams and vice president Valerie Warning, who unsuccessfully attempted in August to have the personnel move be decided by the next school board.

Board members Richard McIntyre, Susan DeLaney and Robin Mungo dissented.

“I don’t see how there’s any expectation that this discussion would be any less heated or any less divided after November,” McIntyre said. “I also remember a few months ago after a seriously heated and substantial public debate concerning critical race theory we moved and acted on a ban of critical race theory. That seems highly inconsistent with the purpose of this resolution.”

The Rev. Scott Gallagher submitted his resignation from the board prior to the meeting.

Warning said assistant superintendent Dennis Chakey has served as somewhat of a defacto equity director with an 11-member committee with at least one person from each school involved.

“How can one person do a better job than 11 people that are in the schools plus two assistant superintendents?” Warning said.

Mungo said having an equity director would not stop the committee’s work.

“This is needed,” she said. “There are other school district’s that are doing this that don’t even have the racial makeup that we have. This is something that has to happen. If it doesn’t happen today it’s going to happen next year or the years after. We need to come together. There are issues. There’s always room for improvement.”

Gallagher’s departure made it easier for Warning to have her wish as he was among the five members originally opposed to the election delay.

Goppman was also in favor of moving forward with the screening process in August.

He said after the Sept. 27 session that he wanted to hear a presentation on the district’s efforts in closing the achievement gap and review data before considering filling the position.

Superintendent William Short said he plans to give an update on the district’s efforts in either December or January.

The vote came after about an hour and a half of public comment on several agenda items with speakers fairly split on the issue.

Resident Larry Conway claimed the equity director would “have a voice in everything” and diminish the school board’s power. He lobbied to eliminate the position.

McIntyre said the equity director would not have any authority over the board. The director would answer to the superintendent, who in turn answers to the board.

“We want to know that our children are going to a district that prioritizes diversity, inclusion and equity,” said parent Jamie White. “We were pleased and encouraged to know that Gateway had approved a full-time equity director position to conitnuie the positive work in this community, and we were just as discouraged when we heard that some in our community were against this.”

Others against the position said it might be a step toward installing critical race theory into the district’s curriculum.

District officials debunked that claim, and the board in August approved a resolution stating critical race theory was not a part of district curriculum.

According to an AP report, CRT is a way of thinking about America’s history through the lens of racism. Scholars developed it during the 1970s and 1980s in response to what they viewed as a lack of racial progress following the civil rights legislation of the 1960s.

“It will be a cancer to this district,” resident James Aiello said of CRT. He also said parents are the true equity directors and have more impact on their children than administrators.

The equity director position was approved several years ago.

Phillip Woods served in that role part-time for two years from 2017 to 2019. The contract came with a $30,000 yearly salary.

The former Woodland Hills High School principal was hired earlier this year as Aliquippa School District’s superintendent.

A full-time equity director salary has not been determined.