A minority recruitment committee has been formed by the Lee County School District to address the percentage of African American and Hispanics who are employed by the district.
Board Chairman Tom Scott addressed the issue of where the district stands on minority employment during a briefing meeting Tuesday afternoon. He said he wanted to know where the district stands, along with understanding how to attack the issue as officials move forward.
Dr. Greg Adkins, chief human resource officer, said he believes the district is, unfortunately, moving in the wrong direction given the number of minority employees who were hired last year. He said that the number of African Americans and Hispanics who were hired within the district dropped a couple percentage points this year over the previous year.
Due to the decrease, Adkins said they have convened a minority recruitment committee to address the issue.
“We have gone to work to try to put together recruitment strategies,” he said.
Adkins said most of their applicants learn about the Lee County School District online first before any other way.
He also said there may be some savings in recruitment costs if it is done online.
Right now, Adkins said, the district has a “passive” website, something they are looking to improve upon with a more active approach.
Of the more than 5,000 employees in the district, African Americans and Hispanics make up 12.5 percent of the instructional staff.
With a population of more than 80,000 students, 51 percent of the student population is minority.
It is “out of balance I think,” Adkins said about the ratio between students and instructional staff “if you look at having role models in the classroom.”
He said officials have recognized the issue and are beginning to tackle the problem.