Special to the Record
Guided by a strategic vision for the school district as well as support from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, Chelsea Public Schools (CPS) has worked to employ one of the most diverse school staffs in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
As of 2023, CPS reported that 23.9 percent of its staff identify as people of color, an increase of 13.8 percentage points from its staffing data in 2019, when 10.1 percent of CPS staff members identified as people of color. Two key initiatives have been identified to account for this increase in educators of color: outlining the importance of this work in CPS’ Strategic Plan for Improving Teaching and Learning for Every Student, Every Day as well as CPS’ participation in DESE’s Teacher Diversification Grant.
The strategic plan was developed during the initial stages of the entry planning conducted by current CPS Superintendent Dr. Almi G. Abeyta. Many community conversations occurred during this time, resulting in input from a variety of voices that helped forge the five-year plan that serves as a road map for CPS to follow. This road map includes five priority areas that emerged from the community engagement, one of which is Recruiting, Supporting and Retaining Diverse and High-Quality Teachers and Leaders. The vision to prioritize this topic has led a focused effort to foster a sense of belonging and community at CPS both at the school level and district-wide. Building affinity groups for educators of color, creating safe spaces for peer-to-peer discussion and developing mentorship programs all have contributed to recruitment and retention success.
“In 2019, during my entry interviews, a recurring theme emerged: the need to actively recruit and retain a diverse workforce. Consequently, this became a focal point for us. We’ve reallocated our budget resources to reinforce this commitment and exerted considerable effort towards diversifying our staff,” commented CPS Superintendent Dr. Almi G. Abeyta. “Achieving this has involved the collective effort of our entire district. I am very proud to be leading the State in this important work.”
“Diversity and representation in our educator workforce is an important component of student success. I am so proud of the growth of our educator diversity at Chelsea Public Schools. This has been a priority area during my time as a member of Chelsea School Committee including the last four years as Chairwoman. It is inspiring to see that Chelsea now leads the State in educator diversity!” commented Chelsea School Committee Chairwoman Kelly Garcia.
Another major contributor to this work has been CPS’ focus and investment in Pathway Programs. Supported by the Diversification Grant, Chelsea offers five different pathway programs accessible to graduating students, family members and current staff members: High School to Paraprofessional, Parent to Professional, Paraprofessional to Teacher, Emerging Teacher to Teacher and Teacher to Administrator. These programs offer benefits such as tuition reimbursement, job placement support, professional development opportunities and more. Employees access the resources needed to further their career aspirations all while working at CPS.
For more information about this work and media inquiries, please contact CPS Communications Director Michael Sullivan at [email protected].