RALSTON, Neb. (KMTV) — In the Ralston School District, teachers are ready to go for the new year, even as the district is finding it harder to fill positions.
As of Wednesday, the district has two open educator positions and 13 staff positions.
“We used to get 10 to 12 applicants,” said Jason Buckingham, superintendent of Ralston Public Schools. “Now, that number may be two or three.”
Buckingham said the district has had to rethink how they’re considering teacher applicants by relying less on whether an applicant is endorsed to teach certain subjects.
“We’ve got to fill those positions and have a place where kids can get in,” he said.
It’s not just happening in Ralston, Omaha Public Schools also mentioned teacher and staffing issues at their last board meeting.
“When we talk about where our staffing holes were, it really came with opening new schools, adding positions to do that, and trying to address class size when we could,” said Charles Wakefield, OPS chief operations, talent office.
Most of their teacher openings are for special education and support positions. They’re looking to fill over 600 staffing positions.
Wakefield said virtual career fairs that allow the district to reach a nationwide applicant pool along with a $9,000 stipend for student teachers which more than doubled interest has helped OPS with recruiting new talent.
Ralston is also paying their student teachers $4,000 each semester.
“That has been helpful in retaining the student teachers that we have,” said Buckingham. “If we have positions open that coincide with their endorsement area we’ve hired some of those on.”
Buckingham hopes these steps go a long way to adding to the talent pool.
“The pool is not as strong as it used to be, but it’s a pretty strong pool,” he said.
Ralston Public Schools says their two open positions are in highly specified fields, and can be filled through contract workers while they continue taking applications. Click here to view current openings in the district.
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