The Orange County Schools District is just a few days away from the start of a new school year – and the school system will be doing it under new leadership. Monique Felder and the district decided to part ways at the end of July, saying it was a voluntary split based on conversations between the school board and former superintendent.
Felder had been praised by some in Orange County for her work on improving diversity and equity efforts within schools, as well as boosting achievement levels for minority students. Opponents of her approaches accused Felder’s administration of taking focus away from basic educational strategies and alleged that it favored certain students over others. The divide has led to significant attention, activism, and conversation over the last four years.
These emotions clashed last week, as the Orange County Schools Board of Education held its first meeting since Felder’s departure and community members shared their thoughts during the public comment period.
When he stepped up to the microphone on Monday night, parent Jim West said he has often felt proud of the school district – but not when he heard of Felder leaving. He said “it really gave me pause” because he believed the former superintendent was doing important work trying to address inequity within the school system.
“We can’t be [a] blue county, we can’t be [a] red county, we’ve got to be Orange County,” West said. “We’ve got to have Orange County values. I ask you guys: do not put another superintendent under the crosshairs. Do not try to politicize [their work]. This is about our kids.”
LaTarndra Strong, who is on the district’s equity task force and helps lead the Hate-Free Schools Coalition, also spoke in favor of those equity efforts. A supporter of Felder since her hiring in 2019, Strong pointed to the former superintendent’s success in raising Orange County Schools to the state’s top district in surpassing academic growth targets during the 2021-22 academic year.
“But we have people in this district who want to stop that growth, who want to see Black and brown children not perform,” said Strong. “See, we can talk about ‘all children.’ But unless we talk about it in terms of the children that are actually receiving services, it means nothing to say ‘all children’ and be okay with [other] children not getting the services they need.”
The Orange County school board members did not address the recent split with their former superintendent during their business on August 14. The elected officials have largely shared no collective comments on the move since their special meeting called on July 28 where, after a lengthy closed session, the board and Felder each shared statements about the decision for her to leave.
Former Chair of the Board of Education Hillary MacKenzie – who helped hire Felder and implement equity policies during her four-year tenure – noted a recent trend of in the board’s voting patterns. In the last year, since three new members were added in 2022, she noticed a regular 4-3 split between officials who questioned Felder’s equity efforts and those who consistently supported them. MacKenzie said to her, it is clear evidence of “a deeply divided board” – and likely contributed to Felder’s departure.
“This action seems to signify that they believe it’s appropriate to pay a leader $200,000 to walk away from the work of centering students who have historically been underserved by our district,” she said, referencing Felder’s severance package. “Even though data indicate that Dr. Felder was growing all of our students faster than any leader in the entire state. What an utter waste of resources that could have been spent at the school level rather than at central office.”
Orange County Schools superintendent Dr. Monique Felder talks with a family after her official selection to lead Orange County Schools in 2019. When she joined the district, Felder credited its recently-adopted equity policy as being a key factor to her interest. During her tenure, Orange County Schools reported significant improvements in academic growth, early-elementary literacy, and the four-year graduation rate.
Other speakers at the meeting, however, indicated their belief that such efforts to address systemic inequities were instead a waste of resources. Sarah Snipes, who has advocated in the past against the district’s policies on mask mandates during COVID-19 and access to books written on sensitive subjects, said as much during her time at the microphone. She urged the school board to turn its focus away from what she described as “controversial and social topics” that she believes have led to a “deterioration” of the district.
“Every person should be afforded the respect, the dignity, and the opportunity to make decisions based on their own individual understanding of the information,” said Snipes. “So, instead of having curriculum’s focus on racial, social, or sexist categorization of students, I’d like to recommend that our new leadership focus on the individual excellence of every student.”
Earl Tye also said he believed a change was necessary for district leadership, thanking the board for their vote to let Felder leave. A volunteer with Friends of Orange County Schools – a local organization that supported school board candidates who sympathized with scaling back equity focuses – he pointed to decreasing enrollment as a result of what he called “a lack of focus.”
“The fact is that parents are looking for other alternatives, other education options,” Tye said. “Teachers are leaving. And I understand that happens in most every district, but it just seems to have reached and maintained at a crisis level here in Orange County.
“There’s been a persistent lack of transparency and communication,” he added, “[with a] big surprise announcement in the spring of this year that there was $1 million+ shortfall that necessitated a half-a-million-dollar draw from the fund balance. And that’s just not how the school district should be run.”
Still, the consistent message across the speakers during the meeting was a desire for the Orange County Board of Education to not be divided heading into the new academic year. Danielle Price, who said she is the parent of a minority child, said she wants the board to find unity on addressing student needs.
“I’m all for equity, but at this point, I’d be happy with equality,” she said. “I ask that you all consider [putting] aside your differences to work together, to do what’s in the best interest of all of our kids. My hope is that we will not continue to let everything that has happened and transpired in the past two weeks distract us and pull our focus from what your job is: to support our teachers, to give parents peace of mind, and to educate our children.”
The first day of school for Orange County Schools is set for Monday, August 28.
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