St. Louis Park outlines retention strategy to recruit and keep educators of color; district reports gains but asks for sustained effort
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Summary
District leaders presented priority‑2 work on recruiting and retaining staff of color, citing a 10‑year rise in hires and retention-rate data; staff requested expanded onboarding, clearer expectations, better exit data and affinity supports
At the June 24 St. Louis Park School Board meeting, district leaders reviewed Priority 2 of the strategic plan: a retention strategy intended to recruit and retain staff of color and strengthen a sense of belonging.
Gail (staff member) led the presentation and said the district has increased the number of newly hired staff of color by roughly 30% over the past decade and that the total number of teachers of color grew about 35% in the same period. She said the percentage of staff identified as staff of color rose by nearly 16% over 10 years. The district reported an average contracted-employee retention rate of about 85% across federal race categories.
Gail described steps the district has taken: adding equity language prominently on job pages, using diversity recruitment vendors, asking candidates about equity understanding in application and interview questions, and reiterating mission and core values during onboarding. She said administrators plan to roll out an improved exit-interview process on July 1 to better identify reasons employees leave and to share aggregated results with site leaders.
Board members asked what staff asked for in terms of support. Gail said staff described the need for authentic relationships, clearer expectations from building leadership, more coaching on data use, competitive salaries and benefits, affinity groups and restorative practices, and training focused on allyship and interrupting systemic racism. Gail said the operations and leadership team participated in the care-cycle process this year to better connect site work with central office practice.
Board members and staff representatives praised the district’s progress while stressing the work must continue beyond the strategic-plan window. “This work is going to live far beyond the strategic plan,” Gail said.
Patricia (staff member) and several board members noted partnerships with unions and regional organizations as an important part of recruitment and retention work.