Concord shifts DEIJ director to different role as it re-examines diversity and equity work

Quinci Worthey

Quinci Worthey

By JEREMY MARGOLIS

Monitor staff

Published: 10-02-2024 5:33 PM

Modified: 10-02-2024 10:30 PM


Concord’s first director of diversity, equity, inclusion and justice transitioned to a new role at the beginning of the year focusing on restorative justice at the middle school.

Quinci Worthey, hired as the DEIJ director in 2022, will spend at least the next year as Rundlett Middle School’s restorative justice coordinator, where he will help introduce a new model for handling conflicts and discipline. Worthey will also retain certain district-wide responsibilities.

Superintendent Kathleen Murphy said the move was motivated in part by the enormity of the DEIJ coordinator position. The district has no immediate plans to fill the role and Murphy said it will take the better part of the school year to rethink the job responsibilities. Among other options, she is considering a closer relationship with the city, which held its first DEIJ committee meeting Monday.

The district has temporarily distributed many of the DEIJ director’s district-wide responsibilities to Murphy, the human resources director, and the assistant superintendent for curriculum, instruction and assessment. Murphy is also in the process of hiring an outside consultant.

Worthey “was spread very thin and this will really help us to focus on that work,” Murphy said.

When Worthey was hired two years ago, the role was envisioned to involve both curriculum and professional development. Worthey said in an interview last spring that his job also included interaction with students and parents, plus the completion of a district-wide “equity audit.”

Murphy said the district knew when they hired Worthey that they were putting a lot on his plate, but they wanted to start somewhere.

“I think the breadth of the position probably grew quicker than we thought,” Murphy said. “… The last thing in the world we wanted to do was burn Quinci out.”

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It is possible that Worthey could return to a district-wide role after this school year, but Murphy was adamant he will need more help.

“It’s not about one person,” she said.

When the transition was approved at a Concord School Board meeting last month, board Secretary Cara Meeker expressed support for the move but stressed the importance of developing a long-term plan.

“I think this is a great fit for Quinci; I’m excited for the new role,” Meeker said. “I just want to make clear that for me personally that doesn’t mean that we don’t need a director, and I like the idea that we’re expanding our offerings and not necessarily shifting focus away from a director position.”

Worthey did not respond to requests for comment about his new or previous positions.

When Concord hired Worthey in 2022, it became the fourth school district in New Hampshire to staff such a position, following Manchester, Exeter, and Oyster River. All have developed their positions in the last four years.

Concord has some of the most racially and ethnically diverse public school districts in the state. In addition to racial equity, Worthey’s previous position also focused on class, gender, sexual orientation, disability, and religion.

The introduction of restorative practices at Rundlett follows a similar roll-out at the high school in recent years, Murphy said. The approach was prompted by concerns over the rates of school suspensions, she said.

“We knew that we wanted to employ the same strategy at the middle school, and so this year was our year to do that,” Murphy said. “It made sense for us to have Quinci engaged in those restorative trainings, as well as the sessions with kids.”

Restorative practices involve employing dialogue and other non-punitive approaches to resolving harm following conflicts, rather than resorting to suspensions. Nationally, school suspensions have been shown to disproportionally target students of color, particularly Black students.

“We want to work with those youngsters while they’re in school,” Murphy said. “So they have these restorative circles where they bring the youngsters in and they work out the issues. They talk about the issues: ‘What happened? Why did it happen? What do you need?’”

Worthey will continue to sit on the district’s professional development and equity committees and he has the freedom to step in at other schools as needed. He is also coaching a Rundlett  soccer team.

Jeremy Margolis can be reached at jmargolis@cmonitor.com.