Four members have been appointed to the newly created Equity Committee, which was formed in accordance with a federal court order to monitor and resolve remaining areas of racial inequality in the Indian River County School District, including the ongoing academic achievement gap between black and white students.
The School Board and the NAACP each chose two members. A fifth person who is neither a school district employee nor NAACP member will be chosen by the four members to be chairman of the committee.
The NAACP is the plaintiff in the federal court case that led to the desegregation order the school district has been laboring under for 51 years.
The School Board decided a district-level employee and a school-level employee would provide needed perspectives to the committee.
They chose Director of Assessment and Accountability Chris Taylor as the district-level appointee. Vero Beach Elementary Assistant Principal Rachel Moree was the School Board’s school-level appointee.
The NAACP chose Dr. Jacqueline Warrior as a committee member. She has served as the organization’s education director and school-district liaison for four years. Willie Finklin, the NAACP’s second appointee, is CEO of PM3 Solutions, a nonprofit organization that raises money for at-risk students.
The NAACP was named as plaintiff to represent black families in the school district by deceased Miami Federal Judge Clyde Atkins in 1994, when the desegregation order was last amended.
Miami Federal Judge Kathleen Williams was assigned the case July 2017. Williams ordered the parties into mediation that resulted in an agreement signed by both parties and approved Sept. 13.
The Equity Committee has no independent power and can only make recommendations to the School Board, with the goal of eliminating the need for continued court oversight within three years.
