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FRAMINGHAM – In September it was announced that the Framingham Public Schools first-ever Assistant Superintendent of Equity, Diversity & Community Development was leaving for a higher education job.
Earlier this week, SOURCE announced that the City of Framingham’s first-ever Chief Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion officer was leaving after less than a year in the job.
The Framingham Public Schools and the City of Framingham created a task force to study merging some department between the schools and municipal government.
SOURCE asked Superintendent Bob Tremblay his thoughts on adding the Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion departments from the school and the city as something to study.
Presently, there is a multi-prong search committee identifying finalists to replace Joseph Corazinni, the former Assistant Superintendent of Diversity, Equity, & Community Development.
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“Round 2 Interviews are taking place this week,” said Framingham Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources Inna London to SOURCE/ “Round 3 interviews will take place next week, and then the candidates will come to spend time in Framingham as well as hold a community forum.”
That community forum is scheduled for December 14, said London.
Finalists are expected to be named later this month, said London.
“As for a merger of the school and municipal departments, I honestly don’t think we are ready to have that conversation,” said Supt. Tremblay to SOURCE.
“Establishing the Office of Equity, Diversity, and Community Development early in my tenure as superintendent was an important decision for the Framingham Public Schools and while there is a clear trend of similar offices being created in other communities, Framingham arguably was ahead of its time in the prioritization of an office that is dedicated to equity in a district of nearly 10,000 students,” said Supt. Tremblay.
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“Since establishing the office however, the workload and demand on our professionals has been relentless. We continue to uncover and address inequities in our educational and operational systems, district policies, and procedures and that is an ongoing effort to be sure!,” said the public school superintendent.
“With the acknowledgement that this office now exists to support our 15 school campuses and with the realization that this office addresses issues that have, until recently, lay dormant, the work that the Office of Equity is doing continues to grow. Adding the entirety of the municipal side of the house would surely lead to complete and total burnout for any leader, regardless of their experience and ambition. This is more than operational oversight. This is transformative work that at once invites and directs all of our school stakeholders to be part of a journey that will be impactful for generations,” said Supt. Tremblay.
“While I love opportunities to synergize, a merger of a delicate, nuanced, and already overwhelmed department would, in my view, be a set up for failure. With that being said, however, an outside study of where synergies or mergers could exist at the more subordinate levels may be worth exploring,” said Supt. Tremblay.
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