Pattonville Not Reaching Goal in Hiring Minority Candidates

A report presented to the Pattonville School District Board of Education evaluated the district's staffing procedures for the 2011-2012 school year and pointed out the need for the district to improve its minority hiring.

Pattonville uses the Missouri Regional Education Applicant Program (MOREAP) to take applications from candidates for positions in the district. Both certified positions and non-certified positions are accepted through this protocol.

57 certified positions were filled from 381 video interviews conducted. Of those, 33 positions were filled with candidates who were new to the district, and:

• 14 of the positions were first-year teachers.
• The average salary offered was $45,141.52.
• The average experience years of teaching experience was 3.36 years.

Eight of the new hires were residents of the district, and six were Pattonville grads.

Ten certified positions were not filled. Retiree positions that were not filled saved the district $852,431 in salaries.

Support staff positions, which include bus drivers, custodians, food service workers, nurses and after-school suspension staff, accounted for 224 video interviews. 52 of these were hired, with 16 being district residents.

The application/interview process received glowing reviews from candidates, with 99 percent of respondents saying that the HR staff was helpful and courteous and that they were given the opportunity and sufficient time to share their thoughts about the position.

In the 2012-2013 school year, staff intend to focus on finding, interviewing and recommending highly effective staff members and address issues related to the closing of Briar Crest Elementary School.

Among recruitment strategies in the 2011-2012 school year, the district held a Pattonville certified staff recruitment day, participated in 19 Midwest recruiting events, actively encouraged existing staff to help identify recruits, built relationships with university education departments and actively advertised openings.

The district also worked to increase the numbers of minority staff members. Currently, 8 percent of certified staff and 19 percent of support staff are members of minority groups. Staff reported that the hiring of minority candidates for certified staff positions was the only one of its 12 target goals that was not met.

The report mentioned that the issue of minority hiring is not unique to Pattonville. District officials cite the fact that 3,467 individuals graduated from Missouri public and private colleges/universities in 2010-2011 with a bachelor's degree in education. Only 126 (4 percent) were black/African American and a smaller percentage were identified asAmerican Indian/Alaska Native, Asian or Hispanic/Latino.