DEI Hiring: San Rafael City Schools

On November 15, 2021, San Rafael City Schools adopted its Together 2024 Blueprint which serves as the district’s “strategic plan” and “Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP).” As part of the Blueprint, the district set a strategic goal titled “Goal 2: Staff Success” which states that it is “dedicated to attracting, developing and retaining culturally responsive teachers and staff that purposefully serve every student.”

In order to achieve this goal, the district commits to hiring “more teachers of color and bilingual teachers and staff.” This includes the Elementary School District (ESD) and High School District (HSD) increasing “the numbers of teachers, administrators and classified staff of color by 10% for all groups.”

A November 14, 2022, Blueprint update to the board titled Hiring Teachers of Color & Bilingual Staff states that its “Smart Goal” is that by June 2023, it will “increase the number of employees of color by 5%.” This includes increasing “administrators of color from 17% to 22% (ESD & HSD),” increasing “teachers of color by from [sic] 17% to 22% (ESD) and from 9% to 14% (HSD).” The presentation also lists “strategic actions” the district is taking such as to “hire a coordinator; recruit and select 24 diverse candidates and mentors for the Teacher Residency program for the 2023-24 school year,” “continue outreach efforts to local schools of education (Dominican, Sonoma State, etc.) and educational organizations (CALSA, AASPA, CABE, etc.) to recruit teachers of color,” and “provide at least quarterly opportunities for teachers of color to meet in affinity groups in San Rafael.”

Included in the presentation is Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) data showing district staffing demographics. The data from the years 2020 and 2022 reveal that the district increased its ESD percentage of non-white new hires by 21%, with an overall non-white staff increase of 6%. Data in the presentation show that the HSD increased its percentage of non-white new hires by 27% but had an overall decrease of 3% in non-white staff. The district as a whole had an increase in new non-white hires of 24% and an overall increase in non-white staff of 2%.

According to the district’s Together 2024 update from February 2024, it notes progress toward Goal 2.2 stating that it has increased the percentage of administrators of color on staff at ESD and HSD from 17% to 31%, and increased teachers of color at ESD from 17% to 19% and HSD from 9% to 13%.