Black women make up fewer than 1.5 percent of the nation鈥檚 superintendents.
That means that when they walk into a room with other Black female district leaders, they鈥檙e often among their mentors, current or former colleagues, or friends.
In other spaces, they may feel like 鈥渁 unicorn,鈥� according to LaTonya Goffney, a school system leader for 15 years and currently the superintendent of the Aldine school district in Aldine, Texas.
Goffney was part of a recent panel in Washington that also featured Sonja Brookins Santelises, the CEO of the Baltimore City school district, and Melanie Kay-Wyatt, who earlier this month was named the permanent superintendent of the Alexandria City school system in Virginia. She starts on July 1.
The event hosted by the Education Trust looked at the research on Black women superintendents and the traits and characteristics they bring to the job. It also explored how the skills Black women bring the job鈥攄eep instructional leadership and an ability to work with stakeholders and facilitate conversations about race and equity鈥攃ould be key assets as K-12 emerges from the challenges of the pandemic.
Expertise not found in case studies
Black women have led some of the country鈥檚 largest school districts鈥攆rom Barbara Jenkins in Orange County, Fla., to the late Michelle King, the first Black woman to lead the Los Angeles school system.
But the group of Black female district leaders has remained small, so much so that they鈥檝e developed a 鈥渟isterhood鈥濃�攁n informal network where they share career advice, provide emotional and professional support, offer career leads, and lend an ear on how to navigate the challenges of district leadership in an environment that was not created with them in mind.
The women provide emotional support as well practical assistance to manage the nuts-and-bolts of district leadership鈥攆rom transportation to school board relations鈥攆rom a perspective that鈥檚 not typically captured in research or covered in a Harvard University case study, said Christina Grant, the state superintendent of schools in the District of Columbia, who runs a group chat for Black female district leaders.
鈥淚 wouldn鈥檛 exist, if I didn鈥檛 know that these women existed,鈥� Kay-Wyatt said after the event.
As the sisterhood鈥檚 newest member, Kay-Wyatt has already benefited.
Since she was named interim superintendent last year, Kay-Wyatt checked in regularly with LaTanya McDade, the superintendent in Virginia鈥檚 Prince William County, to ensure she was prepared for the role and that she took care of her mental and emotional wellness. McDade is Prince William County鈥檚 first Black woman superintendent.
鈥淚 think that it鈥檚 important that we speak up about it and reach out,鈥� Kay-Wyatt said on a panel in response to a question about whether she鈥檇 gotten a playbook to help her navigate being Alexandria鈥檚 first Black woman superintendent.
鈥淒on鈥檛 wait for someone,鈥� Kay-Wyatt said, urging Black women who are already in the roles to look out for those who are coming up.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 also important to know that if you see another woman who is aspiring to do that鈥攚hether they have the skillset or not鈥攊t鈥檚 up to us to bring them to the table. And when we bring them to the table ... we have to make sure we don鈥檛 just walk away from that table. That we come back and check on all of those women who are sitting there to make sure that not only are they OK, but that we ask the right questions. Because, 鈥楢re you OK? gets you, 鈥榊es, I am fine. I am OK. I am good.鈥欌��
Santelises, the Baltimore schools CEO, recalled how she leaned on the unofficial sisterhood during a dark period in 2022 when Maryland鈥檚 then-Governor Larry Hogan called for criminal investigations and potential criminal charges after found that thousands of failing grades had been changed in the city鈥檚 high schools from the 2016 through 2020 academic years.
Although the district鈥檚 lawyers told Santelises that everything would be fine, she couldn鈥檛 take comfort in their assurances.
She鈥檇 been scheduled to fly to Florida to meet a group of Black female superintendents gathered by Sharon Contreras, who is Black and Latina and was then the superintendent of the Guilford County Public Schools in Greensboro, N.C.
When Santelises arrived at nearly midnight, the group was waiting for her.
鈥淚 think that鈥檚 symbolic of what that sisterhood means,鈥� Santelises said. 鈥淥n my worst day, they were my best therapy. God had them [ready] when I was a 2, and I left as a 10.鈥�
Amid a weekend of relaxation, they visited Bethune-Cookman University, a private historically Black college in Daytona Beach, Fla. That visit included a stop to see the statue of Mary McLeod Bethune, the daughter of formerly enslaved people who founded the National Council of Negro Women and the school that later became Bethune-Cookman University.
While she had the support of the staff and lawyers, it was different hearing from a group of superintendents that everything would be OK, Santelises said.
鈥淚 had a community of people who could be real, who could recalibrate me, who I could focus in on, and, frankly, connect it with the history,鈥� she said. 鈥淢y lawyers were telling me, 鈥業 don鈥檛 know why you鈥檙e so upset; it鈥檚 just a political stunt. He is not going to do anything to you.鈥� But it didn鈥檛 matter.鈥�
鈥楪enerational work鈥�
The women also discussed what kept them going and motivated amid the challenges in K-12. For Santelises, it鈥檚 her desire to ensure that she sets up at least one generation of students to succeed in life, she said.
鈥淭his is generational work,鈥� Santelises said. 鈥淚 just want one generation in [my] leg of the race. I am not going to get them all. I can鈥檛 dig back in the past, and I can鈥檛 predict the future. But on my watch, I want a generation. 鈥� I am very clear about legacy. I am very clear about the excellence and the potential that is unrealized.鈥�
For Kay-Wyatt, it鈥檚 about impact鈥攖he impact she can have on others, as well as the impact others can have on her.
鈥淲hen I wake up in the morning I have my little routine and I say, 鈥極K, today, what impact I can have on just one person?鈥� Or I am hoping that one person might have an impact on me. Sometimes, it鈥檚 small. We don鈥檛 always identify what that is. But that鈥檚 what I want to make sure that I do when I am talking about my 鈥榳hy鈥�: It鈥檚 to remember that every day I have a chance to make a change, and impact [someone鈥檚] life. 鈥� It could be a student; it could be a parent; it could be a colleague; it could be a bus driver. Just knowing that you wake up with that opportunity, then why not? Why not do this work?鈥�
Students keep Goffney going. But she鈥檚 also cognizant that she鈥檚 following in the footsteps of Black women before her, who鈥檝e always taken care of others, Goffney said.
The grandchild of a grandmother with a 5th grade education, a grandfather who couldn鈥檛 read, and the daughter of a teenager mother, Goffney said there鈥檚 nothing in her past would suggest that she鈥檇 be where she is in life today.
鈥淓ducation鈥攖eachers鈥擺that] is the reason I鈥檓 sitting here,鈥� Goffney said. 鈥淪o every day, I show up in the midst of these challenges, excited about the opportunity to be able to make a difference for so many who are depending on me, just like I was depending on the educators who came before me.
鈥淚 know where there鈥檚 unity, there is strength. But I recognize, too, that we are called for such a time like this. I believe that Black women are called to do this work, especially during these tough times.鈥�
Sharing educational expertise
The relationship is also reciprocal. When Baltimore was changing its high school curriculum, Santelises asked her staff who else had done something similar. Goffney, the Aldine superintendent, they responded. So Santelises sent her staff to Goffney鈥檚 district to learn from the early adopters.
Goffney did the same later when her district was changing its approach to literacy instruction. She鈥檇 followed Santelises鈥� work for years, before they met in person. (Goffney is a member of the governing board for 澳门跑狗论坛, the nonprofit that publishes 澳门跑狗论坛.)
When she first became a district leader, there were only four other Black women serving in that role in Texas, she said.
鈥淭o be in a room and in a space where you can authentically be yourself and you can relate, it鈥檚 powerful because you feel like a unicorn,鈥� she said. 鈥淵ou do at times, and people treat you like that. But there is power, I think, in the collective experience of all of us.鈥�
There鈥檚 an authenticity, Goffney said, in being part of the group.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 have to be strong; I don鈥檛 have to be fake,鈥� she said. 鈥淲hen I walked into the room, Christina [Grant] already knew how I felt. ... We can get past the pleasantries and get to the raw, authentic person that you are and say, 鈥楬ow you are, and what [do] you need?鈥� And so that鈥檚 what I appreciate about the sisterhood.鈥�
