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AACPS reports gains in teacher diversity and retention, outlines bilingual recruitment push
Summary
Anne Arundel County Public Schools officials told the school board they have increased the share of newly hired teachers of color to over 30% and reduced vacancies, while launching targeted bilingual recruitment and retention efforts.
Jessica Cutches, chief human resources officer for Anne Arundel County Public Schools, told the school board that AACPS has increased the share of newly hired teachers of color from about 17% a decade ago to more than 30% this hiring season and that the district’s overall Unit 1 workforce diversity rose from roughly 13% to nearly 20% over the same period.
Cutches said the district reduced active vacancies from 175 at the close of the 2022–23 hiring season to 59 at the end of the 2024–25 hiring season, and that AACPS retained 94% of instructional staff in 2024. “Our ability to increase the diversity of our workforce is a byproduct of our deliberate outreach and consistent messaging that AACPS is a place where we desire all of our employees to belong, grow, and succeed,” Cutches said.
The presentation described a multi-part recruitment strategy. Shanika McKenzie, senior specialist for workforce diversity, said AACPS attended 62 college and university recruitment events in 2024–25, adding new outreach in New Mexico, Texas, Florida and virtual events targeting Puerto Rico. She said about 24% of those recruitment trips were to historically Black colleges and universities, Hispanic-serving institutions or other campuses with large diverse populations.
Scott McGuire, director of human capital management, described retention initiatives, including a newly developed AACPS scorecard that showed 94% retention overall and 84% new-hire retention in 2024. He said subcommittees will focus on supports for conditional teachers and schools with higher needs, and that the district is expanding principal professional learning on hiring and retention strategies.
Officials highlighted targeted steps to recruit bilingual educators and reduce teacher shortages in multilingual classrooms. AACPS reported that the Hispanic/Latino student population rose from about 12% to 22.3% over 10 years while the Hispanic/Latino teacher population remains under 5%. The district said it will continue virtual recruitment in Puerto Rico and evaluate new college partnerships in Texas and New Mexico over the next two years.
Recruitment and credential incentives were also discussed: AACPS said 136 open contracts were offered for 2024–25 with a 69% acceptance rate; 107 hires resulted from the district’s largest recent job fair; and 125 educators achieved National Board Certification this year, bringing the district’s NBCT total to 548.
Board members asked about supports for career-changer hires and principals supervising them. Cutches and McGuire said the district coordinates with the Division of Instruction and the RightStart program to provide boot camps, a conditional teacher support specialist and targeted coaching for principals.
The board thanked the HR team for the report. No formal board action was taken; the presentation closed to questions and discussion.
