Green Bay Area Public School District building. (IMAGE: Courtesy of Fox 11 WLUK)
GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – This spring the Green Bay School district and community is grappling with the issue of finding a new Superintendent. The resignation of Dr. Claude Tiller, after a recruiting trip to Atlanta, means the district will soon have it’s fifth superintendent in five years.
Tiller’s resignation came following his appearance on an Atlanta radio station, where he commented on the lack of diversity among the teaching staff in Green Bay Schools. He was also critical of a colleague.
While supporters say Tiller was “speaking his truth” – critics say his comments were divisive and inappropriate.
The purpose of the trip was to recruit minority teachers, from historically black colleges and universities, for jobs in the Green Bay school district.
While more than 60% of the 18,000-plus students enrolled in Green Bay Area Public School District are minorities, more than 90% of district staff members identify as white.
The district would like its staff to be more indicative of its BIPOC (Black, Indigenous People of Color) enrollment.
“Our teachers and administrators and support staff, we’d like to have mirror our students. It’s really valuable for students of BIPOC we refer to, to be able to look and see people that look like them in leadership roles because it helps them see a vision for themselves in the future,” said Vicki Bayer, GBAPS interim superintendent.
Looking to increase staff diversity, school district officials, for the past ten years or so, have been traveling to education career fairs that highlight Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
“It’s really not just focusing solely on the HBCU, but we are committed to that,” said Bayer. She added, “We need more teachers that speak Spanish. We need Asian teachers. We need Native American teachers. And we continue to need white teachers.”
Up until this year, the district has only attended recruiting events in Wisconsin and the Chicago area. With competition for hiring increasing, the district is expanding its search area.
In early February, three representatives from Green Bay at a recruiting event in Atlanta last month. The first time the district has traveled outside the upper Midwest for recruiting.
The district plans to send another three people to Nashville for a similar purpose later this year.
According to Bayer, “As we look at the teacher shortage in the State of Wisconsin we recognize that we have to expand past the Midwest now. We need to look further and so that prompted the efforts this year.”
These recruiting trips, according to district officials serve several purposes. Not only are they an opportunity to sell the Green Bay area and the district to education students from outside the Midwest, but they are also a way for district staff to learn and gather information about HBCUs.
“We will track if we have any recruits come from this. As well as, remember I said this works both ways, so are we able to connect our own students that are interested in going to these schools with university,” said Bayer.
Looking to the future of minority teachers in the Green Bay district, Bayer hopes, “That we grow our own. That we somehow help our own students, we are more BIPOC students than white students in our district. Help them, instill in them the love and a desire to educate, to stay in their community.”
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