LA GRANGE, IL \u2013 Over the last three years, the percentage of nonwhite staff at Lyons Township High School has risen slightly, according to the school’s data. <\/p>\n
In the 2023-24 school year, the rate of nonwhite teachers was 9.2 percent, up from 6.6 percent in 2021-22.<\/p>\n
For noncertified staff, nonwhites made up 23.2 percent last school year, compared with 22.4 percent a couple of years earlier. <\/p>\n Those numbers are quite different from the student body \u2013 about two-thirds white, more than a quarter Hispanic and 3 percent each for African American and Asian, according to the Illinois Report Card. <\/p>\n The school’s “life of plan target” is to have nonwhites consist of 15 percent of teachers and 25 percent of noncertified staff. <\/p>\n At this week’s school board meeting, Superintendent Brian Waterman said he saw the plan as lasting five years. Two years remain.<\/p>\n “We have an explicit goal, and we name it,” Waterman said. “We’re proud that we have a board that supports that at the highest level, that we want our teaching staff to represent our school community.”<\/p>\n He said he notes the goal when he speaks to outside groups.<\/p>\n “In other districts, if they don’t have that (goal), it’s not happening,” he said. <\/p>\n Officials said administrators are trained on how to support staff members of color. <\/p>\n Also at the meeting, board members were told about percentages of surveyed staff who feel a “sense of belonging.”<\/p>\n Among teachers last year, 57 percent said they felt like they belonged, up from 54 percent two years earlier.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, among noncertified staff, 51 percent reported a sense of belonging, down from 54 percent a couple of years earlier.<\/p>\nFind out what's happening in La Grangewith free, real-time updates from Patch.<\/h2>\n
Find out what's happening in La Grangewith free, real-time updates from Patch.<\/h2>\n