Hiring and Retaining Culturally Competent Staff

• Hiring Practices

  As part of the the District's Diversity/Equity committee, the Hiring subcommittee has worked for the last three years to update the District's hiring practices in order to attract, hire and retain staff who are representative of our student body and the Brighton community as a whole.  This work is comprised of three distinct areas: 

  1. Recruitment: Efforts include:

  • Developing and integrating protocols to ensure fairness and consistency in the hiring process.
  • Developing Search Process Guidelines/Procedures. 
  • Reviewing recent research and best practices to build a continuous recruitment “pipeline” and “grow your own” programs.
  • Researching innovative approaches to network and outreach to an ethnically diverse teaching staff.
  • Making recommendations to enhance the search/hiring process in most challenging areas

  2. Retention: Including:

  • Antiracist/Antibias (ABAR) training for all staff

  3. The Environment: Efforts include:

  • Updating Job Posting to include - Commitment to Diversity

    Brighton Central School District seeks candidates for faculty and staff positions that are eager to make Brighton an even more diverse and inclusive district for its students to thrive within. A range of backgrounds and perspectives leads to a variety of ideas, knowledge, and approaches, and we believe that a deep understanding and valuing of differences is necessary to our overall mission.

  • Requiring a Diversity Statement with Application

    A statement that shows your past and current efforts, as well as, future plans to advance diversity, equity and inclusion in the Brighton Central School  District.

  • Updating Posting Locations including:

    • Newspapers
      • Democrat and Chronicle
      • Albany Times Union
      • Buffalo News
      • Syracuse Post-Standard
      • NY Times
      • The Minority Reporter
    • NemNet
    • Diversity in Education
    • Top 20 Historically Black Colleges and Universities
    • National Alliance of Black Educators
    • SAANYS
    • Out Alliance
    • Nat. Assoc of Secondary Principals
    • BCSD Social Media and Nomination Form

   

  Teacher Induction

  The District welcomes every new teacher offering the support they need through their participation in an Induction Program, which follows and supports the new teachers during the first three years of employment. The goal of the program is to: develop the capacity and confidence of new teachers, enrich all teachers' knowledge about teaching and learning, minimize new teachers' impact in transitioning to the District, thus maximizing student learning and development, provide opportunities to grow professionally, and Understand and embrace the values and vision of the District.  Throughout the three years, new teachers enter discussions on organization culture and norms, overview of racial equity work, organization functions, and how decisions are made in the district/building/department. New teachers are paired with a mentor, who has been trained to guide the work and offer physical, emotional, and institutional support to the new teacher.

  During each phase, teachers new to Brighton receive professional development on how to build culturally responsive learning environments.  Teachers engage in book studies, workshops, and reflective activities to enhance their skills and increase their ability to implement these practices into their classrooms.