A Minnesota school board voted unanimously to provide “additional stipends” to nonwhite teachers if they mentor other minority teachers.

As reported by Minnesota-based Alpha News, the Mankato School District enacted the policy earlier this month, permitting minority teachers to segregate themselves from their white colleagues to “reduce isolation.”


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The policy says the initiatives are designed to retain "teachers of color and teachers who are American Indian.”

“Retention strategies may include providing financial incentives for teachers of color and teachers who are American Indian to work in the school or district for at least five years and placing American Indian educators at sites with other American Indian educators and educators of color at sites with other educators of color to reduce isolation and increase opportunity for collegial support,” the policy reads.

Before the vote, several board members expressed support for the new policy, saying it was not segregation.

“When you’re one of a majority (sic) it can be very isolating and lonely. To have a support system in place for them is not to segregate them, it is absolutely to support them, my biggest fear is we are going to lose talent because of the feeling of being unsupported,” said board member Erin Roberts.

“It’s not about trying to throw the few individuals we have into one building,” Roberts continued. “It’s about showing them they aren’t alone, and unless you’ve been in those shoes and have experienced that, I think we need to trust our staff [when] they’re saying that they’re not feeling supported.”

Alpha News reported the Mankato school board lifted language for the policy from recently enacted state statute 122A.70, which requires awardees for state grants to “express commitment to … retain teachers of color and teachers who are American Indian.”

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The Mankato school board and chairwoman Jodi Sapp had previously drawn national attention after a viral video from one of the board’s October meetings showed Sapp demanding a parent seeking to address the board reveal his home address.