Director, Equity

Department: Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment

Work Calendar: 12 Months 260 Day

Compensation: 211A

Position Description

The Director of Equity is tasked with the development and implementation of comprehensive district-wide initiatives intended to cultivate inclusive learning environments and enhance cultural competency among educational staff. This role advocates for historically underserved student populations, ensuring equitable access to curricula and resources while systematically analyzing data to refine practices and improve equity outcomes. Moreover, the Director is responsible for designing and delivering professional development programs that equip educators with the skills necessary for implementing culturally responsive teaching practices and maintaining high expectations for all students. This position also involves facilitating extended learning opportunities for identified students and collaborating closely with school leaders to establish culturally supportive learning environments. Additionally, the Director acts as a liaison between the district and the community, fostering collaboration and sustaining open lines of communication.

Tasks

Equity and Systemic Change Essential Job Functions

Percent of Time Spent: 50%

• Recommend equity-centered courses of action for organizational decisions informed by research, data, and constituent perspectives
• Lead the development and implementation of district-wide equity initiatives.
• Embed diversity and inclusion policies and priorities within every department and team, ensuring there is shared ownership across the organization
• Ensure perspectives from within organization and from constituent groups are reflected in decision making and planning
• Develop and maintain systems designed to increase the racial, cultural and linguistic diversity of staff at all levels
• Provide professional development focused on cultural competency and fostering inclusive learning environments.
• Advocate for historically underserved students and ensure equitable access to curriculum and resources.
• Analyze data and refine practices to promote continuous improvement in equity outcomes.
• Assists the District and schools/departments in resolving complex equity issues affecting staff, students, families and the community

Support and Collaboration Essential Job Functions

Percent of Time Spent: 35%

• Develop and deliver professional development programs for all staff levels, supporting educators in implementing best practices for culturally responsive teaching and high expectations for all students.
• Partner with internal and external stakeholders to understand and dismantle existing institutional barriers, with an explicit focus on engaging with communities of color and historically marginalized groups.
• Provide oversight and design support for extended learning opportunities for identified students to further their academic and personal growth.
• Lead with a racial equity lens and actively uses racial equity tools in meaningful ways
• Provide coaching and support to building and department administrators in leading equity and anti-racist initiatives at the school and department levels.  Collaborate with principals and teachers to identify and implement culturally supportive learning environments.

Compliance Essential Job Functions

Percent of Time Spent: 15%

• Act as a liaison between the school district and the community, fostering open communication and collaboration.
• Engage with internal departments to ensure equity and access are embedded in all district-wide efforts.
• Stay current on state and district policy, advocating for initiatives that promote student access and advancement.
• Serve as Deputy Title IX Coordinator, ensuring compliance with federal regulations and addressing potential disparities in access to educational opportunities.

This job requires operating a vehicle and/or driving between locations to perform the job duties.

The intent of this job description is to provide a representative description of the types of duties and responsibilities required for this position. Employees may be asked to perform other job-related duties as assigned.  

Qualifications

Required

• Education: Master's or Professional Degree (M.Ed., M.A.T., M.B.A., M.S.N., M.D., J.D., etc) in Curriculum, Instruction, and Leadership.
• License(s): A valid Oregon Administrator’s License. A valid Oregon Driver’s License.
• Certificates, Certifications, or Other Training: N/A
• Previous Work-Related Experience: 4-6 years of work-related experience implementing and/or supporting initiatives designed to promote and enhance equity, accessibility, and inclusion for students and staff.  Demonstrated experience leading programs or initiatives resulting in increased performance outcomes for historically underserved student groups.  Experience leading and applying equity principles to transform institutional culture. Experience establishing and maintaining relationships with community agencies. Experience developing, leading, and carrying out multi-year strategic plans at the building/department or District level.

Preferred: Bilingual Spanish

Supervisory Responsibilities

• Supervisory Responsibility: One or more employees.
  • Number of Direct Reports: Unknown.
  • Number of Indirect Reports: Unknown.
• Supervisory Activities: Developing or training, Directing, Evaluating performance, Orienting or onboarding, Scheduling.

Interactions & Responsibilities

• Decision-making Authority: Decisions impact a functional area or department.
• Customer (internal or external) Interaction: Moderate: Interact with defined groups of employees and external customers/stakeholders. Interactions involve building relationships, solving problems, and gathering feedback from internal and/or external customers. 
• Budget Management:
  • Order Supplies, plan events and/or book travel: Yes
  • Create or develop a budget: No.
  • Manage or monitor a budget: Yes.
  • Budgetary signing authority: Unknown.
    • Signing amount: N/A.
• Asset Management
  • Manage district assets: No.
    • Type of assets: N/A
    • Approximate value/number of assets: N/A
  • Responsible for safety/security of district assets: No.
    • Type of assets: N/A
    • Approximate value/number of assets: N/A

Knowledge & Skills

Knowledge

• Basic: 
  • Administrative: Administrative and office procedures, functions and basic office tasks.
  • Custodial/Grounds/Maintenance: Machines and tools, including their uses, repair, and maintenance.
  • Customer and Personal Service: Principles and processes for providing customer and personal services.
  • Human Resources: Recruitment, selection, compensation and benefits, labor relations, and HR information systems.
  • Safety/Security: Equipment, policies, and procedures for the protection of people, data, property, and the organization.
• Intermediate:
  • Management: Business/management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, leadership, and coordination of people and resources.
  • Computers/IT: Electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
  • Education/Training: Principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction, and measuring training effects.
  • Law/Government: Local, state, and national laws and government regulations.

Skills

• Constantly (more than 5.6 hours or 69% of the day): Service Orientation, Social Perceptiveness
• Frequently (Between 2.6 hours and 5.5 hours or 33% to 68% of the day): Reading Comprehension, Speaking, Writing, Active Listening, Critical Thinking, Judgement/Decision-Making
• Occasionally (Up to 2.5 hours or 32% of the day): Active Learning, Learning Strategies, Monitoring, Management of Personnel Resources, Time Management, Instructing, Negotiation, Persuasion, Complex Problem Solving
• Rarely (Less than 1 hour or 12% of the day): Mathematics, Management of Financial Resources, Management of Material Resources, Systems Analysis, Systems Evaluation

Physical Demands

• Constantly (more than 5.6 hours or 69% of the day): Finger Dexterity, Repetitive Motion, Hearing, Color Vision
• Frequently (Between 2.6 hours and 5.5 hours or 33% to 68% of the day): Sitting
• Occasionally (Up to 2.5 hours or 32% of the day): Standing, Walking, Reaching
• Rarely (Less than 1 hour or 12% of the day): Pulling/Pushing, Carrying/Lifting, Crouching/Kneeling, Multi-limb Coordination

Mental and Psychological Demands:

• High demands: The job requires significant mental effort and involves high levels of stress (e.g., Frequent need to deal with difficult customers or manage emotions when interacting with others, often works under tight deadlines, exposure to public criticism, regularly requires extended periods of concentration on complex tasks).

Work Type/Physical Demands

• Sedentary work: Exerting up to 10 pounds of force occasionally and/or negligible amount of force frequently or constantly to lift, carry, push, pull or otherwise move objects, including the human body. Sedentary work involves sitting most of the time. Jobs are sedentary if walking and standing are required only occasionally and all other sedentary criteria are met.

Working Environment

• Everyday risk and discomfort level: The environment involves everyday risks or discomforts that require normal safety precautions typical of such places as offices, meeting rooms, classrooms, libraries, or commercial vehicles, e.g., use of safe work practices with office equipment, avoidance of trips and falls, observance of fire regulations and traffic signals. The work area is adequately lighted, heated, and ventilated.

EEO Statement

Salem-Keizer Public School is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, age, disability, or sex, including pregnancy, sexual orientation, and gender identity and other characteristics protected by law.