Lack of Diversity in Potomac School Administration

[Anonymous]

I was looking at Potomac's website and was struck by the lack of diversity of Potomac's senior admin -- it is pretty striking for independent schools in this day and age:

Head of School: white male
Director of Admissions: white male
Upper School Head (interim) and Associate Head of School: white male
Middle School Head: white male
Lower School Head: white female
Director of College Counseling: White male

So, of the five most senior positions: 100% white, 80% male
If you throw in Director of College Counseling, it's 100% white and 84% male.

Wow. That's really striking. I know Potomac talks about Diversity on it website but they don't model it in their administration.

[Anonymous]

Follow-up question: how many of the current senior admin team were chosen by the current head of school?

[Anonymous]

bunch of attacks on Potomac school here lately.

[Anonymous]

Well I can be happy to report most are white gay males, so it's very diverse

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:bunch of attacks on Potomac school here lately.

A 100% white, 85% white male senior admin team is pretty noteworthy in school circles.

[Anonymous]

What OP "forgot" to mention

Director of Advancement at Potomac: Woman
Chief Financial Officer: Woman
Head of the Board: African American Woman

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What OP "forgot" to mention

Director of Advancement at Potomac: Woman
Chief Financial Officer: Woman
Head of the Board: African American Woman

Okay. Good to know, as Potomac's website password protects its "key adminstrator" section of the website. With those additions, Potomac has 8/9 whites in senior leadership. And of the 5 positions most prominent to students (Head of School, 3 division heads, Director of Admissions) it is still 4/5 white men and 100% white.

Maybe their goal was to mirror the amount of diversity in McLean? With that line-up, I can see why people think it is the most conservative of the top local privates. (Although, judging from the "contributions" of the gay-bashing poster on Potomac threads, it sounds like they do a good job with LGBT issues.)

[Anonymous]

I think it's racist to focus on skin color. Shame on you op.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it's racist to focus on skin color. Shame on you op.

Real or satire? Douchey or snarky Potomac parent? Hard to tell.

[Anonymous]

This is not right. We should be judging people by the content of their character, their ability, and their commitment, not skin color.

-Signed Minority Potomac Parent.

[Anonymous]

And this is a problem for you, personally, OP because....?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And this is a problem for you, personally, OP because....?

she's obsessed by race?

[Anonymous]

Potomac's student body and teaching staff is incredibly diverse. That's really what you should be looking at if you are trying to gauge what your child's experience will be like at a school like Potomac (rather than worrying about people--like the Director of Admissions-who the kids don't really interact with after the tour).

[Anonymous]

Is it the new thing America to pretend that race isn't a huge factor in diversity? If the administration lacks diversity. It the student body does not, that is a problem. 7 Dont want my AA son thinking that the only people good enough for top positions are White men, gay or not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it's racist to focus on skin color. Shame on you op.

Real or satire? Douchey or snarky Potomac parent? Hard to tell.

Adjusting the "Douche Model" by factoring in the later posts -- which we can call the "Douche Plus Model" -- there is an 88.6% chance that the post calling concern about racial diversity in a school racist was douchey rather than snarky.