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Staffing diversity report: district reports 27% BIPOC staff; stay interviews yield themes of belonging and microaggressions
Summary
HR presented staffing diversity data (27% of staff identify as BIPOC; 15% of teaching staff) and summarized voluntary BIPOC 'stay interviews' that highlighted belonging, workload, microaggressions, and requests for affinity groups, mentorship and clearer advancement pathways.
At the April 22 Roseville Area School Board meeting, Viviana McCarty, executive director of Human Resources, and Amanda Cotton, recruitment and retention specialist, presented the district’s staffing diversity report and a summary of voluntary BIPOC stay interviews.
The presentation reported that, as of April 2025, 27% of district staff identify as BIPOC and 15% of the teaching staff identify as BIPOC. Cotton described recruitment work with partner universities, a cross‑district teacher expo, and ‘Grow Your Own’ initiatives. The report also highlighted professional development and a suite of partnerships intended to increase recruitment and retention of educators of color.
Viviana McCarty and focus group representatives detailed a two‑year process of voluntary, 15‑minute interviews with BIPOC staff (about 65% participation among invited BIPOC employees). Janai Shaba and Loretta Dowellow Towns summarized four questions used in the interviews and the themes that emerged: (1) what keeps staff working here—belonging, supportive leadership, and students/families; (2) whether staff can be their authentic selves—responses varied with reports of code‑switching and microaggressions; (3) job aspects staff would change—workload, pay and clearer advancement pathways; and (4) what supervisors can do—provide differentiated professional development, transparent policies, accountability, and affinity spaces.
Presenters described next steps: principals will select two to three implementable actions from interview themes, the district will create clearer interview team practices, consider affinity groups and PD on microaggressions, and develop a five‑year plan for monitoring. Board members asked about sustainability of grant funding (PELSB was named as a funder), recourse for microaggressions, and how principals will implement changes. McCarty said the district increased a native cultural liaison to full time in March 2023 and increased the coordinator’s compensation in June 2024 as examples of staffing and compensation steps.
Board members commended the work and asked for ongoing updates; presenters said progress monitoring and periodic check‑ins with principals are planned.
