Ladies and . . . ladies: An all-female board of color and superintendent lead Uniondale School District

When the new year starts in the Uniondale School District, community members for the first time will encounter a sea of female faces of color before them at meetings.

The school district will have not only an entire board made up of Black and Hispanic women but also a Black superintendent.

"In terms of being an all-female board of color with a superintendent of color, I do think it’s very unique on Long Island," said Superintendent Monique Darrisaw-Akil, who was appointed in July.

She said the board reflects the community’s growing diversity. According to the most recent U.S. Census Bureau data, more than 40% of Uniondale residents are Black and more than 39% of residents are Hispanic of any race.

Darrisaw-Akil, 51, pointed out that nationwide, while the majority of teachers are women, they rarely seem to move up into leadership roles within districts.

"I think a lot of women shy away from these roles because of what they’ve heard, that you can’t be a mother and a leader . . . that certain parts of the job are really hard, but women can do hard things, we know that," she said.

A 2020 study by the American Association of School Administrators’ School Superintendents Association found that women make up less than 27% of all superintendents nationwide and that only 8.6% of all superintendents are people of color.

"For me, this moment is about transforming what we think leadership looks like," Darrisaw-Akil said. "All of us women and women of color, who represent so many different, wonderful aspects of the Uniondale community serving in leadership at this level, will tell the students here that women can be anything they want."

There are other all-female boards on Long Island, such as in North Bellmore, and Uniondale is not the first district to have all women of color on its board and as superintendent: For a year now Roosevelt has had a Black female superintendent and all-Black female board. However, having two such boards at the same time appears to be unique for Long Island.

Lorraine Deller, executive director of the Nassau-Suffolk School Boards Association, said her group does not keep records on the makeup of school boards.

"But I’d venture that two all-female/all-women of color school boards, alongside female superintendents of color, is a first for Long Island," Deller said.

Roosevelt Superintendent Deborah Wortham said she and the women of the board have been working in harmony this past year.

"It’s an amazing dynamic that I’m just so honored to be a part of," she said.

For Uniondale board president Addie Blanco-Harvey, 47, leading a board of women has been an emotional yet empowering experience.

"Who knew that the little girl who came to the United States in 1981 from El Salvador would one day grow up to be president of this board?" she said. "Back then I never saw someone like me in that position, so I never saw the possibility of me being in that position. For me to now be president, it’s like I’m telling all the little girls that look like me, ‘Hey, when you grow up you can do this too.’ "

By Denise M. Bonilla

denise.bonilla@newsday.comdenisebonilla

Denise Bonilla has worked at Newsday since 2003 and covers the Town of Babylon, including the villages of Lindenhurst and Amityville.