New Interim Superintendent: Potential Big DEI Proponent & Transparency Opponent

Under the leadership of Board of Education (BOE) Chairperson Jill McCammon (R), Dr. Eric Byrne has been appointed as the interim superintendent of Darien Public Schools (DPS). Currently the superintendent of the Rye School District, Dr. Bryne will serve for the 2025-2026 academic year while the BOE searches for a permanent superintendent. He begins July 1st.

During his tenure at Rye, Dr. Byrne appeared strongly committed to embracing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives while seemingly opposing parental transparency efforts.

Please find below excerpts from his June 16, 2020 communication to the Rye schools and community (emphasis ours):

“Race, equity, and inclusivity are incredibly important topics that must be addressed by schools and communities."
"As educators, we are committed to providing a school environment that is inclusive, just, and focused on equity for all. As such, it is incumbent upon us to begin and pursue a conversation that explores the issues of racism, inclusivity, equity, and community."
“We have begun forming a task force that will take on the challenge of ensuring that we provide a school environment that supports all students and provides equity in opportunity. We are committed to following a comprehensive process that will seek to identify areas where we fall short, opportunities for growth and in developing a plan that will ensure we achieve equity for all."
"I know that change is long overdue, and I am confident that our school community is up to the challenge and will do the hard work necessary to make lasting change and ensure equity for all in the Rye City Schools."

Further to Dr. Bryne's comments above, in 2020 the Rye district entered into a $31,125 agreement with the New York University Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development for professional services related to the “Metropolitan Center for Research on Equity and the Transformation of Schools.” Per their website, the "NYU Metro Center focuses on driving equity in school settings--especially when confronting issues of race, gender, gender identity, national origin, socioeconomic status, and other identities historically marginalized in educational spaces."

When parents learned of this large outlay of taxpayer funds, they partnered with the Goldwater Institute who then sought more information about this use of taxpayer resources by submitting a public records request under the Freedom of Information Law to Rye about the NYU proposal. In response, the Rye district allegedly provided the proposal, but refused to release any communications that led to its decision to spend tens of thousands of dollars of taxpayer money on a third-party vendor. Rye also apparently did not release any information about its Race, Inclusivity & Community Task Force. It also allegedly would not disclose its process for selecting and approving members or the “Community Norms” developed by the task force, which appear to have been funded as part of the NYU proposal. Eventually, a lawsuit was filed in 2022 to obtain additional information but it was ultimately dismissed.

Given DPS's previous forays into this non-academic area of DEI, including the District DEI Committee and hiring diversity consultant Ken Shelton, we are curious to know what Dr. Bryne's current stance on DEI is. Does he still believe that "race, equity, and inclusivity are incredibly important topics that must be addressed by schools?" Will he pursue an equity-driven agenda during his role as interim superintendent in Darien? Or have his thoughts on the role of DEI within the classroom evolved in the past few years? Will he promote transparency, an initiative we believe the outgoing administration often struggled with, within Darien schools?