The Orange County School Board voted unanimously earlier this year to adopt a racial equity policy, as a major step toward addressing and correcting racial disparities in the district.

The board appointed a racial equity task force nearly two years ago, which pulled from various similar policies around the nation to make one specific to Orange County.

Orange County Superintendent Todd Wirt says the first step toward tackling these racial disparities is acknowledging their existence.

“I think the community is ready to work with us forward, but I think we needed to say publicly that these things have existed, and whether intentional or unintentional, just a product of systems and structures that have been in place for a long time that have created obstacles and barriers,” says Wirt.

Now that the policy is in place, Wirt says it’s time to make a plan, which he believes cannot be done without appointing someone to be in charge.

“We feel like it would be unfair to be planning to hire somebody to be an equity director or a chief equity officer and write a plan before they get here, so we feel that position is something we need to move forward with as quickly as possible,” says Wirt.

While the equity task force is continuing their work, Wirt realizes the extra funding that comes with professional development across an entire school district.

“We have a group of [county] commissioners that are very equity focused, very social justice focused that I know have already expressed some support of the policy and the work that we’re doing,” says Wirt.

The board is currently working to rewrite their code of conduct.

Orange County Schools and Chapel Hill – Carrboro City Schools will present proposed budgets to Orange County Commissioners later this year. The county commissioners then set the overall county budget, including school funding.

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