Iowa City school board confirms Botchway as new equity and staffing director

IOWA CITY - The Iowa City school board on Tuesday approved Kingsley Botchway as the district's new equity and staffing director.

Botchway, an Iowa City council member, will oversee all equity functions in the district, including professional development, conflict mediation and compliance with civil rights legislation, according to the job posting for the position.

His duties also will include ensuring equity in the district's staffing, said Chace Ramey, a district spokesperson.

'We're trying to expand the role to incorporate some staffing pieces (and) staffing leadership as a way to ensure that we have equity in all areas of our organization,” said Ramey, who, as the district's chief human resources officer, will oversee Botchway.

As part of an equity plan, Ramey said, the district hopes that 15 percent of its administrators, certified staff and support staff will be employees of color by the 2019-20 school year.

'It's very broad right now, because we're still developing it,” Ramey said of the plan. 'The details are something that Kingsley will lead the effort to develop.”

Ramey said the district hopes to have the plan completed in the spring.

Botchway's hiring comes after Ross Wilburn, the district's former equity director, left the position in September. Botchway will continue in his role as a city council member, Ramey said. His term runs through 2018.

The hiring process that led to Botchway's selection raised some questions among board members. Orville Townsend, a board member and former equity advisory committee member for the district, said he had received a call from another applicant, who felt he had not been given a fair chance at the job due to a scheduling conflict with his interview time.

The district had no direct contact with the applicants before the interviews themselves, Superintendent Stephen Murley told board members, and it used largely the same hiring process for this position as for other open positions.

After some discussion, the board voted 5-2 to hire Botchway, with Townsend and board member Patti Fields voting against the hire.

Botchway will now oversee that same hiring process that Townsend questioned. He will receive a salary of $61,753.97, according to board documents.

Ramey said the district is excited for Botchway to start.

'He's ready to accept this role, and we believe he has the skills, the ability and the experience to make a very positive impact as a leader of the district,” Ramey said.