BELOIT — The School District of Beloit had a turnover rate of nearly 19% last school year and staffers struggled with feeling undervalued by the district and the culture of climate of the schools, according to staff surveys.
On Tuesday, the School District of Beloit School Board is scheduled to see a breakdown of exit interviews conducted with departing staffers in the 2024-2025 school year.
Overall, the district saw 129 of its 684 full-time employees leave at some point during the year, or 18.9%. That did not include substitute teachers, seasonal employers or crossing guards.
Turnover was higher, though, in three key categories. Sixty-one of the 316 teachers left (19.3%), 24 of the 119 paraprofessionals (20.2%) and 12 of the 31 administrators (38.7%).
The exit interviews asked those leaving to rate the district in several categories on a scale of 1-5 with five being the best. Experience with school-level leadership scored best at 3.47, while experience with district-level leadership and the culture and climate of schools or departments was at 3.06. Feeling valued by the district scored a 2.76.
The school board has set a district goal to reduce staff resignations by 20%. It’s going to be a difficult task. There is a national teacher shortage. About 35% of school districts last year started the year with at least one open position and the issue typically is greater in districts with large African-American and Hispanic populations. In 2022, the National Center for Education Statistics reported that public school districts with high percentages of minority students were twice as likely to have teacher openings.
The School District of Beloit is one of the most diverse districts in Wisconsin. In the 2024-2025 school year, the district’s student population was 34.7 Hispanic/Latino, 32.8% white, 21.9% African-American and 9.5% of the students identified as two or more races.
