Swampscott Superintendent of Schools Pamela Angelakis’ track record shows she tackles daunting tasks with plenty of planning and detailed discussions.
Angelakis started talking about students’ mental-health needs and social-emotional learning before many of her peers broached these sensitive subjects.
Controversy surrounding construction of an all-town elementary school didn’t stop Angelakis from extolling the project’s merits last year. She is taking the same direct approach this year in addressing how town schools can incorporate diversity, equity, and inclusion into local classrooms.
Those three words are at the center of the renewed national debate over race in America, ignited by George Floyd’s murder in May 2020. Some school districts, like Lynnfield, jumped into the equity, diversity, and inclusion process without sufficient planning and drew criticism from parent groups intent on blocking at every turn the effort to bring diversity, equity, and inclusion into local education.
Angelakis took a different approach. Starting a year ago, the superintendent initiated a discussion framed around two questions: What direction did the district want to go in relation to diversity, equity, and inclusion; and what did the district want to accomplish regarding those aspirations in five years?
She asked everyone who works in the Swampscott schools to help her answer those questions.
The answers she received were complicated, challenging, meaningful, and revealing.
Respondents asked how the district can encourage engagement over diversity and equity. They asked how a process can be mapped out to identify existing inequities. They discussed frameworks for fostering a sense of belonging among students and they zeroed in on how to identify bias. Phrases like “critical consciousness” and “belonging” entered the discussion and Angelakis kept her staff focused on the daunting task of how to incorporate diversity, equity, and inclusion into a five-year education plan.
“We are not letting this slip,” was the mantra she repeated throughout the planning process.
A strong framework and detailed ideas emerged from the work undertaken by town educators. Now it’s time for parents and anyone else who wants to be involved to offer ideas and discuss how the youngest town residents will learn about diversity, equity, and inclusion in Swampscott classrooms.
We think Angelakis has done the work to ensure the discussion is focused and productive.
