Meeting Dr. Sharonica Hardin-Bartley

This was written by Alice, one of our student interns. The opinions expressed herein do not reflect those of Civitas other than respect for the value of open dialogue.

“We weren’t indoctrinated, we were captivated,” says Ian Feld, a highschooler within the University City School District. Feld is talking about the controversial 1619 project, a series of pieces that follows American history through the lens of critical race theory, in an op-ed featured in the Post-Despatch. Critical race theory itself is an ideological filter used in academia to examine race in the context of various subjects, especially history and law. One of the biggest proponents of CRT (critical race theory) and The 1619 project is Dr. Sharonica Hardin-Bartley, superintendent of University City School District. Naturally, when we found out Dr. Hardin-Bartley was coming to talk to us (Civitas interns) we were curious to hear her perspective on the backlash to CRT, as well as her experience as a Black woman in a position of power, and her experience as an educator during COVID times. She is now approaching the 6th year of her job as superintendent of the U City school district, but has been engaged in racial equity work before that, including being part of the Ferguson commission. 

As for her background, Dr. Hardin-Bartley has been a life-long St. Louis resident. She participated in St. Louis’s desegregation program, which, she explained, was one of the worst in the country. As a result of the program she attended Rockwood schools from grades 6-12, where she experienced various forms of racism that she only came to truly understand as an adult. For example,  Hardin-Bartley’s teachers had little interest in getting her name right. “I was called Veronica, Shannon, Sharonica (shar-on-eeca), but rarely Sharonica (sher-on-ica).” This subtle indifference was hurtful, and discouraged her from being motivated in those teachers’ classes. Hardin-Bartley described how that experience, among others, helped shape her into the educator she is today. After graduating from Lafayette High School, she went on to get her bachelor’s degree in education from Harris-Stowe University, her master’s degree in education administration from SLU, and her phd from UMSL. One thing I really appreciated about Hardin-Bartley was how down to earth she was. As a high schooler, all the talk about college is pretty intimidating, especially when you discuss more elite universities, with acceptance rates of under 20%. However, Hardin-Bartley assured us that a good education can be found anywhere, and your success is not dependent on where you went to college. 

Her kind and open attitude was clear as she talked about how she treats children within her district. Hardin-Bartley wants to affirm and love every child first, before getting into the logistics of their performance and identity as a student. There is a huge focus on social and emotional health within the U City school district, led by Hardin-Bartley, who believes the mental health of the students comes first. It was this passion and empathy that made COVID so hard on her, professionally and personally. The superintendent talked about the catastrophic effects of COVID from her perspective, “Being an educator changed as a result of COVID.” The first COVID death in the county was the grandma of two of her students. Hardin-Bartley told us how hard it was visiting the girls after the tragedy, as well the other difficulties of COVID; disengaged students, kids’ lack of access to wifi, and the widening of the already apparent opportunity-gap. In order to help get her students back on track, she is hiring more social workers for the district, so there can be one available for each building. They have also worked on a summer camp called Camp U, which aims to help kids catch up on school in a fun, interactive way. 

In addition to her focus on her students’ social and emotional health, Hardin-Bartley also works to support the use of The 1619 Project throughout her district. When first asked about this, she wanted to make clear that critical race theory is not equivalent to The 1619 Project. The 1619 Project, which was a suggested source from a teacher, attempts to use the intersection of race and history to critically examine America’s past. CRT, as I mentioned above, is simply a lens used in academia to examine the intersection of race and, usually, law. Despite Missouri’s backlash towards CRT and The 1619 Project, Hardin-Bartley continues to support it, explaining the importance of having a space where kids can dissect complex pieces of text and talk about difficult topics, especially ones as important as race. In response to the claim that CRT and The 1619 Project makes white kids feel guilty, she says that the intent to guilt trip simply isn’t there. “Most opponents of the project haven’t even read it. If they did, however, they would see that it has nothing to do with making white kids feel guilty.” The project simply offers another perspective to America’s complicated history. 

After hearing Dr. Sharonica Hardin-Bartley speak, I was impressed with her passion and expertise. I think we could all learn from her diligence and activism! If we want America to finally be able to engage in respectful conversations about race and to look critically for the truth in our history, we should all be a little more like Dr. Sharonica Hardin-Bartley.