Santa Maria‑Bonita board receives staff diversity report, asks staff to set measurable recruitment goals

The Santa Maria‑Bonita School District board on May 13 received the district’s third annual staff diversity report, which shows steady increases in Hispanic and Latino representation among certificated staff but continued underrepresentation in school leadership.

Dr. Bland, who presented the overview, said the work focuses on long‑term workforce development and community pipelines: "This work is about sustainability, developing future educators from within our own community," she told the board. She described recruitment and retention measures — expanded community recruiting, streamlined front‑line hiring, and a pathways‑to‑teaching residency partnership with Cal Lutheran that maintains a 20‑candidate cohort, including 15 multiple‑subject candidates with bilingual authorization and five education‑specialist candidates.

The report placed the figures in local context: SMBSD serves more than 17,000 students and employs over 2,200 staff; the student body is about 95% Hispanic/Latino, while certificated and management demographics lag behind that level of representation. Dr. Bland showed five‑year trend data indicating a steady rise in Hispanic/Latino certificated staff but noted the leadership gap remains.

Board members pressed for more‑specific goals and disaggregated data for principal and assistant principal roles. "What is the representation of Latinos in our assistant principals and our principal positions?" a board member asked. Later, Board Member Valencia asked directly about targets: "Have we talked about goals or targets that we have so that we can better measure our progress?" Dr. Bland said the district is expanding applicant outreach, using surveys to understand applicant pools, and trying to diversify hiring panels; she agreed the annual report could include explicit, short‑term percentage targets tied to the data.

Dr. Bland also described the district’s internal strategies: growing local pipelines, on‑site hiring events, partnering with universities and career fairs, and a residency model that allows candidates to work while earning credentials to reduce financial barriers.

Board members asked staff to return with clearer, time‑bounded goals in the next annual report so the board and community can evaluate progress. The board acknowledged receipt of the report and directed staff to incorporate measurable targets and comparative data where useful.

The board will consider the follow‑up goals and target metrics in future reporting; no formal policy changes or new budget authorizations were adopted at this meeting.