Equity Audit on Hold, Diversity Training Ongoing

An equity audit of the Wallingford-Swarthmore School District is on hold for now, pending an investigation into who might best perform it, board member Kelly Wachtman reported at the board’s meeting on Monday.

Thom Stecher

At the board’s previous meeting, on November 23, members approved an auditing contract for Tom Stecher and Associates, a Malvern-based educational consulting firm. But the board’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion subcommittee met on December 2 with members of a local advocacy group, Wallingford Swarthmore Schools Big IDEA (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access), who urged the district to look for a different firm, according to Wachtman, who serves on the subcommittee. 

WSS Big IDEA expressed concern about the lack of racial diversity in Stecher’s senior leadership team and worried that the firm is insufficiently experienced in conducting equity audits, Wachtman said. She reported that others in the community also have expressed concern about the firm. 

Wachtman said the subcommittee was confident Stecher could perform a high-quality audit, but that members “also recognize the benefit of reevaluating potential partners.”

Equity audits evaluate a wide range of school-district operations, including curriculum, pedagogy, school culture, administrative policies, discipline, and support services. They aim to ensure an inclusive culture that offers all students equitable educational opportunities and to foster comparable achievement among students. 

Superintendent Lisa Palmer said the district’s equity audit will include interviews, observations, and document and process reviews. Wachtman reported that the school district’s audit will evaluate equity in education through a wide lens that includes not only race and ethnicity, but also disability status, gender identity, income, sexual orientation, and other dimensions.

Wachtman noted that well-qualified firms are in high demand, so seeking a new partner will delay the district’s audit. Stecher and Associates has agreed to cancel the district’s contract without penalty.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Training

Heather Bennett

At the November 23 meeting, Palmer reported that the school board has begun equity training with Heather Bennett, Director of Equity Services for the Pennsylvania School Boards Association. Palmer anticipates that the board will produce an equity statement and an equity policy by the end of the school year. 

Director of Education Denise Citarelli Jones reported at the same meeting that groups of administrators and teachers also have begun diversity, equity, and inclusion training. Teaching Tolerance, a program of the Southern Poverty Law Center, provides the trainings. Sessions were completed in August, September, and November; another is scheduled for May. 

Assistant Director of Education Ashwina Mosakowski explained that the district is in the process of establishing diverse libraries for kindergarten through fifth-grade classrooms. She also reported that elementary teachers are working to fill in gaps in the social studies curriculum by incorporating social justice standards. “We realize that we have a lot of work to do” when it comes to incorporating diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives throughout the district, Mosakowski said, adding, “We are committed to doing the work.”

Beyond Sports

During the public comment section of the meeting, a school district resident asked why the board has devoted so much time at recent meetings to whether and how sports practices and competitions could be held but has held little discussion of other extracurricular activities. 

Board President David Grande said the board will take up the status of nonathletic extracurricular activities, such as the performing arts, at its next board meeting.

The next school board meeting will be Monday, December 14, at 7 p.m. To watch it live or afterwards, go to WSSD’s YouTube Channel.