AACPS reports higher hiring diversity, outlines retention and recruitment steps

Anne Arundel County Public Schools officials told the Board of Education on Wednesday that new-hire diversity exceeded 30% for the 2024–25 hiring season and that overall instructional-staff retention was 94% in 2024.

The presentation by Chief Human Resources Officer Jessica Cutches and her team outlined recruitment steps — including 62 college and university recruiting events, expanded outreach to Texas and New Mexico, virtual recruitment in Puerto Rico and a later annual job fair — and retention strategies such as professional learning for principals and targeted supports for conditional or career-change teachers.

The details matter because AACPS has been trying to make its staff more reflective of its students: the district’s Hispanic/Latino student population has increased from about 12% to 22.3% over the past decade, while Hispanic/Latino teachers remain under 5% of the workforce, Cutches said.

The district reported a decade-long improvement in teacher diversity: educators of color made up 17% of newly hired teachers 10 years ago and more than 30% in the most recent hiring season; the overall Unit 1 (instructional) workforce rose from about 13% to nearly 20% over the same period. AACPS also said it reduced vacancies from 175 at the end of the 2022–23 hiring season to 59 at the end of 2024–25.

Human resources director Scott McGuire described targeted programs to support career-changers and conditionally certified teachers, including Right Start advisors and summer “boot camp” sessions, and said principals are receiving training on retention-focused supervisory practices. Senior specialist Shanika McKenzie described bilingual recruitment and noted partnerships with historically Black colleges and universities and Hispanic-serving institutions.

Staff listed concrete outcomes tied to the recruitment calendar: the March job fair produced 107 hires and 136 open contracts were extended for 2024–25 (94 accepted, a 69% acceptance rate). AACPS also reported 125 educators earned National Board Certification in 2024–25, bringing the district total to 548 NBCTs, among the largest county totals in Maryland.

Board members pressed for further detail on principal support for career changers. "When you have people who come out of long-standing experience in other sectors, the way coaching and observations are done may land differently," said Dr. Tobin. Cutches and McGuire described professional-development work with the division of instruction and the Right Start program to provide tailored supports.

Officials also noted ongoing efforts to recruit bilingual educators from outside the region and to evaluate new recruitment markets over the next two years. Staffing increases and retention subcommittees will report recommendations to the superintendent’s cabinet later this year.

The presentation concluded with board members and the superintendent thanking human-resources staff for progress on diversity and retention metrics and noting continued work remains to better match teacher demographics to student demographics.