Beaufort County schools start year with fewer positions to fill (with video)

Beaufort County public schools are beginning the year next week with far fewer vacancies than last August after getting an earlier jump on recruitment.

The school district had a shortage of 46 employees -- including 17 classroom teachers -- as of Tuesday afternoon, according to head of human resources Alice Walton. That's down from about 70 vacant staff and teacher positions this time last year, she said.

Still, she's not satisfied yet.

"We are working diligently today, tomorrow, to fill those positions," Walton said, as three more teachers' files sat on her desk awaiting approval. "All eyes and arms and legs and everybody is moving in that direction to get those positions filled."

Most of the openings are a result of resignations, though many people retired as well, Walton said.

One out of 10 teachers left the district at the end of the year, primarily because of a high cost of living compared to their salaries, the Island Packet found in a special report last spring.

Thanks to a number of factors, though, replacing those teachers was a more manageable task this year, Walton said.

For one, human resources began hiring teachers at its annual career fair in mid-March, rather than at the end of May as in past years.

The district has hired 295 teachers since March, up from 170 teachers at this point last year and more than the district hired in the whole of the 2014-2015 school year, Walton said.

In addition, about five fewer teachers signed on to work for the district and then changed their minds over the summer, Walton said.

A proposed cost-of-living bonus may also have enticed some new workers.

Walton and district spokesman Jim Foster said they expect to fill many of the district's remaining vacancies by Monday, when a few hundred more students will fill the district's 31 schools than last year.

The rest will be handled by recently retired teachers who agreed to serve as substitutes, Walton said.

Among the open positions are an elementary school media specialist, drama teacher, guidance counselor, music teacher and four district literacy teachers.

The remaining vacancies are in the middle and high schools, ranging from math and science positions to social studies and English.

One of the county's largest schools, Beaufort High, had five teacher vacancies as of Tuesday, the most in the district, Foster said.

Though the district wants to get permanent teachers into classrooms as soon as possible, it doesn't lower its standards during the August crunch, Walton said.

Some districts across the country have done just that.

Pressured by shortages far larger than Beaufort County's, schools are hiring people who are still working toward their credentials and have little or no classroom experience, the New York Times reported Monday.

Walton said Beaufort County hired a few more people this summer who received credentials through the state's Program of Alternative Certification for Educators. However, she said the difference wasn't significant and added the district has had success with those candidates in the past.

"We will not do an emergency hire," Walton said. "Sometimes hiring ineffective or unqualified teachers is just as bad as not having any teacher at all."

Follow reporter Rebecca Lurye on Twitter at twitter.com/IPBG_Rebecca.

Related content:

• Squeezed out: 1 in 10 Beaufort County School District teachers leaving at year's end, May 28, 2015
• District officials: Schools have too many vacancies as new year begins, August 18, 2014

This story was originally published August 11, 2015 at 4:33 PM with the headline "Beaufort County schools start year with fewer positions to fill (with video)."