The Boulder Valley School District is holding a “Teacher of Color Hiring Event” in February, aiming to increase the diversity of the district’s teaching staff to better reflect the diversity of its student body.

This effort comes as the school district has been criticized for more than a decade for lacking staff diversity. During a community outreach effort in 2019, one of the primary asks from parents and community members was for more teachers and leaders of color, said Randy Barber, chief communications officer of the school district.

“Research shows that there is a significant benefit to students of color when the faculty of schools is representative of the diverse community they serve,” Barber said. “BVSD has long had a focus on equity, including efforts to increase the diversity in our system that aligns with our student body. Ultimately, it is often hard in large organizations to make progress on systemic change.”

In the 2021-22 school year, 32.9% of students in the Boulder Valley School District identified as people of color, including 19.6% Hispanic, 5.6% Asian, 0.9% African American and 6.4% multiple races. Among current licensed staff — over 83% of whom are teachers — only 12.6% identify as people of color, including 9.4% Hispanic, 1.3% Asian, 0.7% African American and 1.2% multiple races.

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The percentage of people of color working in the district has increased only slightly since 2009 when people of color made up 10% of teachers, and since 1998 when they made up 8% of teachers, the Daily Camera reported.

When word of the hiring event spread online, it was criticized on several talk shows and websites for requesting people of color specifically. Several social media users also took offense to the event, calling it “racist” and claiming it was a form of employment discrimination.

“Boulder Valley School District appears to be the latest school district to get in on the growing trend to resegregate people by race,” wrote Sherrie Peif on Complete Colorado, comparing the hiring event to Centennial Elementary School in Denver’s controversial “Families of Color Playground Night” last month, which school leaders said was a result of specific requests from families to create a space of belonging.

However, Barber said the event was created to increase the pool of qualified applicants of color and that no one, regardless of their race, will be turned away from the event. He said, in the past, the school district’s efforts to increase staff diversity have been less direct and have not been effective.

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“BVSD continues to be an equal opportunity employer and ultimately hiring managers select the best candidates for positions based on qualifications and job responsibilities,” Barber said. “Our efforts such as the Teacher of Color job fair are focused solely on ensuring that there is diversity within the qualified candidates being considered for our positions.”

The hiring event is scheduled to be held virtually on Feb. 12 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. During the event, principals from various schools in the district will interview candidates and make tentative employment offers for the fall semester of 2022.

The event is part of Boulder Valley School District’s All Together for All Students strategic plan. The five-year plan, launched in October 2019, aims to meet the needs of all students in the district and address the achievement gap between minority and disadvantaged students compared to their white counterparts.

The plan includes a goal to double the district’s number of teachers of color in the five years. Since the plan began more than two years ago, the district has not made progress towards the goal, with approximately 13% of the district’s teachers being people of color in 2019, the Daily Camera reported.

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