Extra credit: Local school districts raise pay, add benefits to attract, retain staff
In response to the nationwide teacher shortage, local school districts are exploring new ways to attract and maintain staffing levels.
For districts such as River Road ISD, they are hiring staff members by utilizing their District of Innovation Plan, which allows the district to hire individuals who meet the criteria but have not yet acquired their Texas Teaching Certificate. This includes individuals who are still pursuing a degree.
According to RRISD Superintendent Richard Kelly, part of accepting teaching staff under this plan includes additional training and access to a support system to ensure that the individuals are properly prepared and trained for the position.
"This is a safety net that we utilized to find individuals for a specific positions in the past, for example, a Spanish teacher or a special education teacher. We are now broadening out this plan to include even general positions, such as an elementary teacher or secondary teacher in all different subjects," Kelly said.
The superintendent said that the choice to broaden this plan was largely influenced by the Texas and nationwide shortage in teachers.
Amarillo ISD approved the inclusion of pay incentives to attract and retain not only teachers, but all staff members within the district. AISD also added additional pay raised on top of the retention pay for individuals who have received their tenure within the district, as well as for individuals teaching in a low-retention school. This includes being part of the Teacher Incentive Allotment program, created by House Bill 3 to keep highly effective teachers in the classroom – and in front of students who need them most – by raising their salaries significantly, according to a news release. TIA is being implemented by 236 other school systems across the state, and 137 new Texas school districts were recently approved by the Texas Education Agency.
The 137 districts, which include Amarillo ISD, have received Part 1 approval to implement their systems during the 2022-2023 school year. Next, these districts will move forward with a data validation year in order to apply for Part 2 approval in October 2023, the release says.
According to Highland Park ISD, they have not seen any issues with staffing within the school of their district due to their competitive pay compared to other districts, but they have seen some issues in hiring and retaining bus drivers for the district in particular.
"This year we began recruiting or trying to attract individuals earlier in the year, so we have not seen as much of a challenge as other districts, but we do have a need for bus drivers, much like many other districts right now," said Jimmy Hannon, Superintendent for Highland Park ISD.
According to Hannon, the district reevaluates their salary and hourly pay annually to maintain a competitive edge when seeking individuals for positions. In addition to the pay incentives, many districts are also improving their benefit plans to attract individuals for all positions within the district.
"We are adding these additional incentives and benefits to not only attract and retain individuals within our own district or other competing school districts, but also to attract individuals from competing positions within the community," Kelly said.
For individuals searching for a position within a local school district, they are asked to contact the district, or apply for positions that can be found on the district's official school website.
This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: School districts find new ways to attract, retain teachers, staff
