Columbus City Schools highlights educator pipelines and staff wellness as central to staffing strategy

Columbus City Schools officials on Monday presented updates on educator pipelines and a staff wellness initiative they said are intended to strengthen staffing, diversify the workforce and support student outcomes.

Superintendent Dr. Chapman and HR director Tari Pollard told the board the district is expanding programs that move current employees into teaching and leadership roles, including Grow Your Own Forward, a Capital City teacher residency and the district's student-teacher pipeline (TCCS). Pollard said internal hiring has increased in recent years and that "our pipeline is working," describing multiple cohorts in training and conversion data the district tracks.

"This work is not simply a staffing strategy. It is a student achievement strategy," Pollard said, explaining pipelines, residencies and apprenticeship pathways designed to retain staff who already understand district students and culture.

Principal Audrey Jones described the leadership intern program as cohort-based mentoring and professional learning that uses a district "portrait of an equity-centered leader" to guide principal development. Jones credited Wallace Foundation-supported professional learning and said mentoring relationships are central to building future leaders.

The presenters gave concrete program tallies: Dr. Chapman noted 28 Columbus City Schools students from the class of 2026 received the I Know I Can Founders Scholarship and said the program's applicants averaged a 3.88 GPA; he also said more than 310 CCS graduates have received that scholarship and that the program has provided more than $10 million in founder support. Pollard said the district's internal hire share rose in the most recent year to roughly 20% for teachers hired from internal pipelines, and that prior years showed steady increases in internal leadership hires.

The board questioned how those aggregate figures break down by prior job role. "How many of those 41 pipeline hires were instructional assistants who became teachers?" board member Dr. Pierce asked; presenters said the district has the raw counts and committed to providing role-by-role breakdowns. Pollard also said one state-funded Grow Your Own scholarship stream "has stopped" and that the district will need to identify new funding to add additional entrants.

Wellness team leaders framed staff well-being as part of workforce stability. Director of Total Rewards Becky Roe and wellness staff member Smitha Yaramilli said the wellness initiative recorded more than 11,000 cumulative participations and about 4,305 unique staff participants last year; the team reported a district-wide participation rate of 46% and a 13.2% response rate (1,198 responses) to the staff wellness survey. The presenters tied wellness programming to improved workplace belonging and said participation increased 32% from 2021 to 2025.

Board members pressed for indicators that wellness and pipeline investments affect student outcomes and staffing metrics. Several trustees asked for absenteeism figures, more robust return-on-investment data and earlier access to the reports. "When we don't get the information in advance, it undermines our ability to effectively serve the public," board member Simmons said.

District staff committed to supplying the board with the requested breakdowns and supplemental materials in advance of a follow-up monitoring session. The board recorded feedback including requests for: (1) the number of instructional assistants who advanced through pipeline programs; (2) site-by-site absenteeism trends tied to wellness work; and (3) detailed funding status for state and private grants that support the pipelines.

The board's discussion on the monitoring presentations continued alongside other agenda items; the board later took votes on separate monitoring reports and moved into executive session to consider personnel matters. The district said it will return to the board with clarifications and updated appendices.