Sioux Falls School District has 146 new teachers this year. See where they come from
The Sioux Falls School District updated the school board on its hiring efforts for the school year Monday night, highlighting increases to teacher diversity along with job opportunities still open for the school year.
Superintendent Jane Stavem said during the meeting she was "pleasantly surprised" to see the district's human resources department fill so many positions while workforce and staffing shortages in education continue to be an issue across the U.S.
"We are in a really good shape, all things considered," Stavem said.
Here’s a highlight of how staffing looks across the district ahead of the first day of school later this month.
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New Sioux Falls School District hires help increase teacher diversity
The Sioux Falls School District welcomes 146 new teachers to the classroom this year, 75 of whom are new to the profession and 59 of whom served in other roles in the district last year. Twenty-three of the teachers are also alternatively-certified, which allows teachers with a degree or experience in a certain content area to receive full teacher certification despite not going through an education program.
Of the new hires, 13% are diverse. These new hires raised the district’s overall teacher diversity rate to 5.33% from 5.08% last year. This count is taken as part of the district’s goal to hire staff that reflect the city's diversity.
Teacher diversity leads to more meaningful teaching and learning for students, and helps students develop empathy, cultural competence, security and belonging, according to the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards.
Of the new teachers hired this year, 26% are also from out-of-state, including 17 from Minnesota, seven from Iowa, five from Colombia, two each from Alaska, Nebraska and Wisconsin, and one each from Arizona, Arkansas, Bosnia, Guatemala, Kentucky, Montana, Nevada, New York, the Philippines, Spain and Texas.
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Several teachers, dozens of support staff needed in Sioux Falls
The district is still hiring for two elementary classroom teachers, a middle school recovery teacher, a middle school language arts teacher, three full-time special education teachers and one part-timer, a part-time speech language pathologist and a senior Marine instructor for JROTC. Administrators will continue to interview candidates for these positions until they’re filled, or alternative schedules or staffing arrangements are made, according to a board report.
More than 900 candidates applied for district teaching positions this year, the district reports, with 48% of those applicants coming from South Dakota. Usually, 65-70% of applicants are from South Dakota. Candidates from outside the U.S. accounted for 34% of applicants.
In addition to five teaching jobs, 106 support staff vacancies are listed on the district’s website. 150 more substitute teachers also must be hired by mid-October to replenish the substitute staff pool to meet schools’ needs, the district reports.
One hundred and thirty-one teachers resigned in the 2022-2023 school year, compared to 139 who resigned in the 2021-2022 school year and 87 in the 2020-2021 school year, the district reported.
A quarter of the teachers who left last year went to teach in a nearby school district, and another 8% left to teach out-of-state. About 20% left the teaching profession, 12% moved and 16% resigned to stay home with children or family. Other reasons for resignations included teaching at a distant district in state, teaching at a university, returning to health care, going to graduate school or resigning for a health-related reason.
This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Sioux Falls School District updates board on hires for 2023-24
