Cape Henlopen School District to improve diversity gap between teachers and students

LEWES, Del. – Schools at the Cape Henlopen School District are getting more and more students who represent Spanish-speaking and African-American communities.

According to reports, during the last school year over 30 percent of students were part of a minority group. And while that’s not a problem, the fact that only 6 percent of the staff are minorities is.

And it is why the district is doubling their minority staff, a move they are making to better address the needs of their communities.

“These are part of our ongoing efforts to increase the diversity of our staff,” said Cape Henlopen School District Superintendent Bob Fulton.

“We know that we have a gap between student and staff population and we want to decrease those numbers,” said Fulton.

According to third grade teacher Jordan Saez, with an increase of minority teachers the students will feel that they are part of a larger family and feel less excluded in their communities.

“With my Spanish-speaking students it has really helped them come out of their shell,” said Saez.

“They have been able to communicate with me either way, and I think that helps them to feel more, ‘Ms. Saez is more approachable,'” Saez said.

In order to attract more minority teachers, applicants will no longer be required to have dual certification, or a special education certification. But, the superintendent says it will not affect their quality of education.

Fulton also said that the school district will be collaborating with historically black colleges to help bring in more minority applicants.

According to Fulton, the school district is not only working on diversifying their staff to better represent minority students, but also on how they discipline them.

The Cape Henlopen School District is now training teachers to dig deeper and work closely with students who have experienced trauma and are likely to show disruptive behavior.

This is all thanks to their trauma-informed care model that helps students from low-income families or with special needs to look for support and stay in school.

“It is not necessarily about the student being good or bad or anything, it is about finding what is the root of the issue and trying to provide more training to staff members and administrators about digging down deeper,” said Fulton.

He said that by having more minority teachers, African-American students and Hispanic students will feel more comfortable approaching for help.