The South Orange-Maplewood School District has hired Dr. Kevin Gilbert as its new Assistant Superintendent of Access & Equity.
Dr. Gilbert replaces Dr. Gretel Pérez, who was the first person to hold the position and who resigned after 15 months to take a job in the Union School District.
Dr. Gilbert currently holds a similar position in the Howard County Public School System in Maryland. He is a veteran educator of 24 years. He will begin at SOMSD on May 16, 2022, at a salary of $170,000.
Dr. Kevin Gilbert
See a bio of Dr. Gilbert from SOMSD, as well as his resume, below:
Dr. Kevin F. Gilbert, has been in education for 24 years and currently serves as the director of diversity, equity, and inclusion for the Howard County Public School System (HCPSS) in Howard County, Maryland. Prior to his arrival in HCPSS, he served as the coordinator for teacher leadership and special projects with the Clinton Public School District in Clinton, Mississippi.
As the director of diversity, equity, and inclusion, Dr. Gilbert is tasked with coordinating HCPSS’s efforts to be more diverse, promote equity, and ensure inclusion throughout the district. As the first person to serve in this capacity for HCPSS, he also oversees the operation of the newly created Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (ODEI). After just three years, ODEI is one of the bedrocks of the HCPSS’s equity work. The Howard County Public School System is located in Ellicott City, MD and serves over 59,000 students and over 8,000 staff members.
Dr. Gilbert has worked as a social studies teacher, coach and an administrator with the Clinton Public School District, Rankin County School District (Flowood, MS), and the Hinds County School District (Raymond, MS). Other professional experience includes serving on the National Education Association’s (NEA) Executive Committee from 2013-2019, and president of the Mississippi Association of Educators (MAE) from 2007-2013. Other leadership positions include serving as vice president for governance for the National Council of State Education Associations, chair of the NEA Committee on Human and Civil Rights, and co-chair of the NEA task force on Discipline and the School-to-Prison Pipeline.
He earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree from the University of Southern Mississippi, and a doctorate in education leadership from Mississippi College.
