This year’s school district vacancies similar to years past – The Press

BROWN COUNTY – From retail stores and restaurants to daycares and school districts – the list of job vacancies throughout the area is long.Teacher shortages are an issue school systems have grappled with for years – and a global pandemic surely didn’t help.Many area districts said the amount of vacancies they have this year are comparable to previous years, however, filling them have proven to be a bit more difficult, and some outside the box thinking is needed for recruitment.Keith Lucius, assistant superintendent for the Ashwaubenon School District, said Ashwaubenon will have staff postings for teacher retirements or resignations at the end of the year, but the numbers are similar to pre-COVID-19 pandemic years.“During the school year, teachers typically do not leave, that happens after the school year has ended,” Lucius said.He said it is sometimes a different story for support staff, even more now with the state’s low unemployment rate.

…Blakeslee said the district has also run targeted social media campaigns in major metropolitan areas in Wisconsin and in nearby states, as well as worked with the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay and St. Norbert College’s education programs. 

She said the pandemic has also forced the district to consider other ways to interview and recruit staff.

“Using Zoom to conduct virtual interviews was one significant change,” Blakeslee said. “Virtual career fairs also became a way to reach education students during COVID.”

She said the nationwide teacher shortage has required school districts to become more creative in both the recruitment and hiring of teachers.

Source: This year’s school district vacancies similar to years past – The Press