Image Credit: Hamilton County Schools / YouTube
The Tennessee Conservative [By Paula Gomes] –
The Hamilton County Board of Education debated a potentially “racist” policy at its board meeting earlier this week.
The proposal would put a focus on hiring teaching staff that is more diverse than the county’s overwhelmingly White workforce.
However, District 8 board member Larry Grohn (R-East Ridge) believes the district should avoid any language that would make it seem that hiring minorities was more desirable than simply hiring qualified candidates, no matter their race.
Superintendent Justin Robertson believes the district has a responsibility to hire staff that mirrors the community. Fifty-four percent of students in Hamilton County Schools are either Black or Latino, while only ten percent of educators in the district are Black or Hispanic. Nevertheless, Robertson said that the district will follow state law.
“If we’re truly honoring what is the moral, right thing to do and following federal law, we’re not supposed to discriminate on race, ethnicity, language, socioeconomic backgrounds, gender, sex, anything,” said Grohn. “We’re going to be looking for the best candidate. When you introduce something like this, that says you’re going to put extra emphasis that automatically defers discrimination.”
Robertson insisted that the district would not be “lowering the standard” or altering hiring requirements, but at the same time said that they would be “intentional” about trying to recruit Black and Hispanic teachers. Robertson told board members that it is important that students see themselves in the adults who lead their classrooms.
A 2019 Tennessee law required that school boards set goals for educator diversity that considered the diversity of students in any given district. The law took effect with the 2021-2022 school year but during the 2025 Tennessee General Assembly, state lawmakers passed the Dismantle DEI in Employment Act which put an end to such initiatives in local governments, public universities, and school districts.
The legislation, which passed along party lines earlier this year, acknowledges that local governments, school districts, and public institutions of higher education “are at their most effective” when employees “are the most highly qualified candidates for employment” with their respective employer and that “hiring decisions should be based on merit rather than any other metric.”
The school board updated its educator diversity policy in July to reflect the changes in state law. Educator diversity, under the updated policy, referred not to race alone but to “a broad range of backgrounds, experiences, perspectives, including but not limited to race, ethnicity, language, socioeconomic backgrounds, and pathway into the profession.”
At the board meeting, one of the aspects of the policy that was debated was cooperation with educator preparation programs to identify and remove barriers as a strategy to recruit and retain diverse educators. Board member Felice Hadden raised concerns over the phrase “removing barriers” as she said such language could be misinterpreted.
The Hamilton County Board of Education has a history of committing to educational equity and nondiscrimination policies but since the passage of state laws this year that prohibit the practice of hiring to comply with DEI objectives, the district reevaluated their previous goals in order to avoid legal trouble.
The district has a policy review process through which the Educator Diversity Policy proposal will continue to make its way.
About the Author: Paula Gomes is a Tennessee resident and reporter for The Tennessee Conservative. You can reach Paula at paula@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
