The Gateway School Board of Directors on Feb. 15 approved the resignation of six employees, including two assistant principals, resulting in a discussion regarding lacking diversity within district administration.
John Fournier and Michael Barlak, both assistant principals at Gateway High School, are resigning from their positions. Barlak will leave the position because of personal reasons on April 13; Fournier is planning to retire on Aug. 8.
“We want to recognize all of our retirees and thank them for the service that they’ve done for the district and everything they’ve done for the staff and the students,” said Patricia Crump, district director of human resources, who is retiring on March 31.
The retirements of Moss Side middle school teacher Sean McGrain, supervisor of special services Susan Asti and food service manager at Moss Side Middle School Sharon Sonetti were also accepted.
It was not specified how the search for new assistant principals would be handled.
Rabbi Barbara Symons read a statement on behalf of the Monroeville Interfaith Ministerium addressed to the board, asking for groups representing several backgrounds to be considered.
“At this time, we especially want to express our appreciation for the work of high school assistant principals Dr. Fournier and Mr. Barlak. We wish them well,” Symons read. “As you begin the process to fill these two positions, we invite you to look around at the students, at the faculty and at the administration. The faculty and administration do not proportionally reflect the many diversities of our students.
“There’s currently no diversity in the administration. The message that sends to our students of color, those with varying ethnic backgrounds and religions, let alone our female students, is that their life experiences cannot be fully understood by their administration. A lack of diversity sends a message that our students, in this fine school district, do not have the opportunity to envision themselves at the highest tier of education.”
According to U.S. News World Report, 51.4 percent of Gateway students are white and 26.5 percent are Black. Students of more than one race make up 8.8 percent.
The issue of equity was also discussed during a board study session meeting on Feb. 8.
“Currently, in administration, (there is) no diversity as far as African-Americans or other nationalities,” said Dr. William Short, district superintendent, during the study session. “But we’ve had a number of principals and administrators over last several years.”
Dennis Chakey, assistant superintendent, said the district held an equity meeting before the study session.
“The focus of the meeting was developing a plan moving forward,” Chakey said. “Right at the forefront is eliminating the achievement gap. We looked at the overall program and we want to develop domains. The first domain being the systemic structures. This is an opportunity to look at what are the systemic structures within our district, which may be posed as barriers to students.
“How can we expand teacher candidates? Looking into some of those aspects. … How are we going to take this group of students that are lagging behind and creating this gap, or this opportunity gap, how are we going to make sure we can reduce this gap? We’re going to do it academically and staying focused on instruction.”
