The Hazelwood School District is one of only a handful of districts statewide that has set an aggressive goal to better include minority businesses in the construction of its schools.
Earlier this year, in an effort to encourage the participation of African-American subcontractors in the construction of new schools, the Hazelwood Board of Education set a goal of 15 percent participation by African American-owned businesses.
The board set the goal in an effort to recognize the diversity in the school district, and to provide an opportunity for minority-owned businesses to profit from the current bond-issue projects. Currently, about 60 percent of the students in the district are African-American.
About two years ago the district included more than 1,000 community participants in the Hazelwood 1st process, which was used to develop a long-range facilities plan for the district.