Bruce Bivins
Bruce Bivins, an area superintendent for the San Diego Unified School District, began his career 25 years ago, before the concepts of diversity, equity and inclusion moved to the top of the public education agenda. He was attracted to USC Rossier’s DEI certificate program for the opportunity to delve deeper into those concepts with colleagues from across San Diego County.
His cohort in the program was San Diego-centric, with participants from the San Diego County Office of Education and the Poway, National, Oceanside and San Marcos districts. Bivins was one of eight managers from San Diego Unified, who included four area superintendents and the head of the district’s DEI office.
“DEI is something that’s integrated into all of our work, from executive leadership to leaders at the site level,” Bivins said. “So this is about getting more knowledge around the work that’s happening around the county and problems of practice around equity. How are we examining those inequities…and how do we leverage resources? How do we apply different systems and critically analyze data to make informed decisions on how to move to a more inclusive environment for kids?”
The former special education and ESL teacher, who was an administrator in the Los Angeles and Seattle school districts before moving to San Diego, said the Rossier program has helped focus him on big changes that could advance equity in San Diego Unified, such as reexamining the ways giftedness is assessed and how ethnic studies can be better integrated into the curriculum.
Another useful aspect of the DEI program was its deep dive into popular terminology such as critical race theory and intersectionality.
“These aren’t new terms for me,” said Bivins, who oversees 28 schools attended by students from military families, historically marginalized communities and more affluent neighborhoods. “But unpacking them through the different perspectives of who’s in the conversation is important. I think that’s helpful in a community where we have such diverse opinions.”