District reports improving diversity among new hires but flags recruitment gaps and low applicant pools

The district presented its annual employee demographics, recruitment and retention report, which showed promising movement in some measures but also ongoing gaps board members urged the administration to address.

Administration said employees of color make up about 45% of the district workforce while students of color are 47% of the student body; faculty of color were reported at roughly 29%. The presentation noted that this year 50% of new faculty hires were faculty of color. The HR presenter said the district received 223 total applications this year, including 91 nonwhite applicants (about 41%).

Retention metrics were emphasized as a strength: administration reported a faculty retention rate of 96% overall and 97% for faculty of color; overall employee retention was 91% with employee-of-color retention at 89%. The presenter said 49 separations occurred in the past year; 20 were retirements.

Board members pressed for more granular reporting on the 'multiracial' category (which the presenter said was not collected historically for employees) and asked for targeted recruitment strategies, including outreach to HBCUs and planned in-house job fairs that guarantee interviews. Members also sought vacancy and retirement forecasts so the district can bridge the gap between student demographics and faculty composition in specialties where applicant pools are thin.

"We only had 12 faculty openings and half of our new hires were faculty of color," the presenter said, noting that individual-position supply varies by subject area. Board members asked administration to return with refined KPIs and further breakdowns to guide strategy.