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Schools

Recruiters scramble to find teachers

The district's shortfall is four times larger than usual. While class size rules require more instructors, the county pays less than its neighbors.

By ABHI RAGHUNATHAN
Published August 7, 2005

BROOKSVILLE - The hunt to find new teachers for the county's growing school system never ends for Gwen Gideon. She hits the circuit of job fairs, ferrets out professionals looking for a career change, even recruits on trips to the supermarket.

As the district's coordinator of certification, equity, recruitment and retention, Gideon has a tough job. Enrollment is booming in counties all over the state, and the demand for teachers is surging just about everywhere.

"I'm constantly searching," Gideon said. "If I'm out shopping and someone mentions they're interested in teaching, I talk to them."

Despite such efforts, the Hernando district still has not filled all of its positions for the 2005-06 school year. That means dozens of students will start school Monday without meeting their full-time teacher. District officials said they will have some type of temporary teacher or substitute where needed.

District officials listed 122 instructional vacancies last week, but cautioned that figure was inflated because they hadn't taken into account some recently hired teachers whose paperwork had not been processed.

The district figures had nine instructional vacancies at Spring Hill Elementary School, for example, though principal John DiRienzo said Friday that he had just three openings left to fill.

Over the past few years, Hernando schools have often started a new year still lacking about 20 or 30 teachers. But several factors made recruitment this year even more difficult.

The school district needs about 1,800 teachers this year, up from about 1,700 teachers last year, Gideon said. Also, state education officials decided that districts can no longer use co-teaching arrangements, or using two or more teachers in a single classroom, when calculating average class sizes to comply with a 2002 state voter amendment that limits the number of students in each class.

Heather Martin, the district's executive director of business services, said it was unclear what impact the state's decision on co-teaching would have on county schools. She is still gathering figures on the number of co-teaching assignments in the county, and School Board members will discuss the issue at a workshop in October.

Hernando also faces another disadvantage in recruiting teachers: It offers lower pay than many other counties in Florida, including its neighbors.

According to state figures for the 2004-05 school year, Citrus County teachers made an average of $40,151 per year, and Pasco County teachers made an average of $39,224. Meanwhile, the average Hernando teacher made $36,177 a year.

The average salary for a teacher with a bachelor's degree in Hernando in 2004-05 was $33,583 per year, about $3,500 less than the average in Citrus and Pasco.

"Our neighboring counties pay more than we do," Gideon said.

District officials are still negotiating this year's salaries with union members. Brian Phillips, president of the Hernando Classroom Teachers Association, said teachers would flock to the county if it offered better pay.

"I think everybody will agree: Higher salaries are going to recruit more teachers. Bottom line," Phillips said.

Instead, Gideon said, she emphasizes the support and friendly atmosphere within county schools when recruiting candidates.

"I talk about the support they will get," she said.

DiRienzo, the principal at Spring Hill Elementary, said he liked to tell candidates about the mentoring program for new staffers at his school.

Last year, DiRienzo hired more than 30 new teachers. Most of them returned.

"That (retention rate) says a lot about the staff," DiRienzo said. "They mentor each other."

Abhi Raghunathan can be reached at araghunathan@sptimes.com or 352 848-1431.

Monday is the first day of the 2005-06 school year in Hernando County. Officials recommend that if parents have questions, they first call their child's school. For questions about bus routes, the district transportation department may be reached at 797-7003. The main school district number is 797-7000. The district Web site is www.hcsb.k12.fl.us/

[Last modified August 7, 2005, 01:29:21]