By Kevin Palmer
How much longer will it take Columbia County school district leaders in Evans, Georgia to step out of their comfort zone and fill the gaps in Black administrators and teachers?
According to the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement, Greenbrier High School and Harlem High School have a Black student population of 15 percent and 17 percent, respectively. Yet, from 2011 until the present, neither school has had a Black administrator. To Harlem’s credit they at least have one Hispanic administrator as opposed to Greenbrier’s all Caucasian administration.
On top of that, in all five Columbia County high schools, Black teachers are underrepresented in relation to the Black student population. As far as the percentage of Black students and teachers, Grovetown HS has 37 percent and 14 percent, Greenbrier HS 15 percent and 4 percent, Lakeside HS 17 percent and 7 percent, Harlem HS 17 percent and 7 percent, and Evans HS 21 percent and 14 percent.
It is time for Columbia County school district leaders to demonstrate forward thinking behavior by closing all the racial gaps in certified personnel.