A Relentless ‘Equity Warrior’

Profile: JOSEPH J. ROY

Few moments equal the pride Joseph Roy experienced when he witnessed one of the Bethlehem Area School District’s graduating seniors receive a Jack Kent Cooke Scholarship earlier this spring. The student, an immigrant from El Salvador, is entering Yale this fall.

“She didn’t speak English when she came here, and she’ll study neuroscience at Yale,” he says. “Immigrant students are amazing.”

Roy’s passion for putting equity into practice in his 13,000-student district’s 22 public schools has informed his leadership since he assumed the top berth in Bethlehem, located in eastern Pennsylvania, in August 2010. With students of color making up 60 percent of district enrollment, Roy has ensured opportunities would be readily available to all.

“Bethlehem is a very progressive area, with a great diversity of income, culture and races,” he says. “As a leader, I’m very focused on anti-racism, diversity, equity and inclusion.”

A father of four, his two school-age children attend a Title 1 school in the district. “That’s purposeful,” Roy says. “I wanted to send that message.”

Equity is embedded in budgeting, hiring and curriculum. Roy explains, “As the false flag of critical race theory was raised last summer over (an) inclusive and historically relevant social studies curriculum, our district commissioned a team of teachers and administrators to develop a one-page document that highlighted exactly where we were purposefully and systemically integrating the role race plays in our nation’s history.” The document was made public as a signal that the district would push back against anti-diversity equity, inclusion and belonging efforts.

As Jack Silva, Bethlehem’s assistant superintendent and chief academic officer, says, “What sticks out for me is [his] real courage for equity and public policy. … He’s willing to take the bumps and hits for that.“

A key piece of Bethlehem’s equity work is centered on literacy. Making sure students read successfully by 3rd grade has been central to the equity push, says school board president Michael E. Faccinetto, who teaches 5th grade in a neighboring district.

“He saw it as a civil rights issue,” says Faccinetto. “We have an issue of young students of color who can’t read. Reading is the civil rights of our time.”

To build trust for his initiatives, Roy systematically worked on transparency and communication with the community, He developed a road map showing where he intended to take the district. That map includes alternatives to academic tracking by significantly reducing ability grouping and working with staff to examine attitudes and policies that, Silva says, reinforce “differences, not creating opportunities.”

The district’s partnership with neighboring Moravian University offers one avenue for expanding students’ horizons. Moravian President Bryon Grigsby approached Roy about seven years ago, eager to provide two scholarships a year for graduates of Bethlehem’s two high schools.

“This is changing students’ lives,” says Grigsby, citing recipients who were first-generation collegians or DACA students. “They would have no way to pay for college.”

Roy, a Long Island, N.Y., native grew up in central Pennsylvania, where his father was a high school principal.

“I saw that commitment to the community,” says Roy. “It becomes your family’s life.” Especially compelling was witnessing “the impact of [my father’s] life.”

Roy is embedded in the Bethlehem community. “There’s nowhere I’d rather be,” he says. “There’s tradition and pride in this community. Our graduates go on to build the future of Bethlehem.”