Bellingham Public Schools’ Affirmative Action Report states that the district will prioritize retaining ‘staff of color at our most highly impacted schools’ when reducing certified staff; race-based affinity groups for staff

Bellingham Public Schools’ Affirmative Action Report states that the district will prioritize the retainment of “staff of color” when the need to reduce certified staff arises, and provide professional learning for leadership around “anti-racist/anti-bias applicant screening practices.” The district also has race-based affinity groups (called Employee Resource Groups) for staff.

The June 7, 2024, progress report connects to the district’s Bellingham Promise which is a “commitment to facilitate change that will lead to recruiting and hiring a more diverse, inclusive, and equitable staff.”

The document states that part of the affirmative action plan is to “monitor applicant data” because a “major goal of the affirmative action program is to implement recruiting strategies to attract and employ a more diverse pool of candidates that is reflective of our community and student demographics.”

According to the district, while the data “continues to highlight continued efforts to diversify our teachers and administrators who identify as one or more races,” the district has “significantly increased the percentile of new hires that are one or more races – from 18.40% to just over 32%.”

The plan lists “action steps” related to the diversification of staff. For example, in the case of staffing reductions, the district worked with “labor leaders and collectively prioritized keeping as many certificated staff of color as possible” and addressing the discrepancy in “applicants of color” by training leaders in “anti-racist/anti-bias applicant screening practices.”

“On-going” goals include reminding “recruiting and hiring authorities of the district’s commitment and goals under the affirmative action plan” and monitoring the “employee selection process for inclusion of underutilized protected class.”

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The district also offers race-based Employee Resource Groups, also known as affinity groups. These groups include a “Staff of Color Coalition,” a “Black Legacy” group, a “Latinx Connection,” and a “Multiracial Employees Coalition.”