Kaitlin Lugo Shulman, a public school educator who currently works in Lawrence, will be the Shawnee Mission School District’s next head of diversity, equity and inclusion.
The board of education approved Shulman’s hiring at its meeting April 10 through unanimous approval of the consent agenda which included the monthly human resources agenda. The move garnered no discussion from the board.
Shulman’s official start date is July 1. She will replace Tyrone Bates, Jr., the district’s first-ever DEI coordinator, who announced his resignation earlier this year in order to focus on an outside consulting business he founded.
Shulman currently works for Lawrence Public Schools
- She is that district’s facilitator of recruitment and retention, a role she took over in July 2021, according to a LinkedIn profile.
- According to her LinkedIn profile, her current role mostly has Shulman coordinating and promoting recruitment events, co-teaching professional development for new teachers and working with local universities to place student teachers with mentors.
- Shulman did not respond to the Post’s requests for comment for this article but did retweet SMSD’s tweet announcing her hiring.
I am very excited to embark on this adventure to support the staff & students of @theSMSD. Looking forward to building new relationships & joining Team 512’s vision of building a fully unified, equitable, & inclusive culture.
Thank you for this opportunity🧡 #OneShawneeMission https://t.co/l7ByOnjCRK
— Kaitlin Shulman (@kaitlugo7) April 15, 2023
She started off as a teacher
- Prior to moving into an administrative role, Shulman was a first and second grade teacher at Quail Run Elementary in Lawrence.
- She earned her bachelor’s degree in elementary education from the University of Kansas and her master’s in educational leadership and administration from Emporia State University.
- Her LinkedIn profile also says she has been in a part-time role as KU’s Spirit Squad Director since September 2022.
She’ll be Shawnee Mission’s second DEI coordinator
- The role was originally created in 2019 and filled by Bates that July.
- The coordinator position was created after a Shawnee Mission parent group spent years pushing the district to improve its diversity and inclusion efforts.
- Bates previously told the Post that some of his biggest accomplishments over the past four years included creating diversity teams at each campus in the district and the presence of “affinity groups” in schools.
Recent staff turnover has made some parents anxious
- Some Shawnee Mission parents shared concerns about the district’s diversity, equity and inclusion efforts at the same April 10 board meeting at which Shulman’s hiring was approved.
- Parents expressed particular worries over the recent resignations of both Bates and the district’s lone student success coach Andre “Coach Dre” Carnegie, who focused much of his work on mentoring students of color at multiple campuses in the district.
- In addition to Shulman’s hiring, district officials have previously told the Post that there are plans to post Carnegie’s position and fill it.
