District Aims For Greater Staff Diversity

West Valley School District will try to hire six minorities and two women over the next five years to meet its affirmative action goals.

The school board approved the district’s affirmative action plan at a meeting Wednesday night. The plan analyzed the district’s minority population and identified areas where improvement is needed.

The greatest hiring deficiencies fell in the areas of female administrators - superintendents, principals and assistant principals - and minority classified staff, which includes positions such as cafeteria workers and bus drivers.

Of the district’s 13 administrators, only three - or 23 percent - are women, off a goal of 40 percent. The goal is based on the available population of women educators with administration credentials within the district, said Doug Matson, personnel director for the district.

Most of the report showed increases - over the past five years - in minority hiring. Two of the district’s administrators, - or 15 percent - are minorities, above the available population of 8 percent.

“The percentages are fairly good for our size,” said Amy Bragdon, principal of Centennial Middle School. Bragdon was the first Asian hired by the district and one of the first female administrators.

Bragdon commended West Valley’s efforts to recruit and hire minority staff members, but said it’s difficult because there are not many applicants. Many minorities apply instead in larger cities, she said.

Despite the challenge, West Valley has made gains. Five years ago, said personnel director Matson, West Valley had no minority staff members in positions such as teacher aides and custodians.

Now minority classified staff makes up almost 4 percent, but the district still plans to hire four more people to meet its goal, which is closer to 6 percent.

Matson, who prepared the affirmative action report, said it’s also important to even out the population in areas that are not deficient in minorities or women.

For example, he said, 86 percent of the district’s elementary teachers are women. “There’s also equity going the other way,” he said, noting that the district would like to attract more male elementary teachers.

Although there are no black teachers in the district, one teacher is Asian, two are Hispanic and several are Native American.

The district’s eight minority teachers set it above population levels, but a goal has been set to hire two more by 1998.

The reason for that goal, Matson said, is to provide more schools with diversified teaching staffs. Minorities are disproportionately spread throughout the district’s schools now.