These Triangle school districts pay more, but they still struggle to fill jobs
Triangle school districts are scrambling to get enough teachers, bus drivers and staff for the start of the new school year despite offering some of the highest salaries in the state.
Wake County, Durham, Johnston County and Chapel Hill-Carrboro are among the school districts that are trying to staff schools at a time when they say they’re seeing rising resignation rates. School officials say classrooms will be covered on Monday, but it may take a creative combination of substitutes and other staff picking up the load.
“Students will be served regardless,” Alvera Lesane, Durham Public Schools’ assistant superintendent for human resources, said in an interview. “Even though we may still have vacancies posted, every classroom will be covered.”
Demand for bus drivers
As of two weeks ago, Wake County had 958 vacancies for teachers, instructional assistants, bus drivers and cafeteria workers. Teachers accounted for 401 of the vacancies for a 3% vacancy rate.
But Drew Cook, Wake’s assistant superintendent for academics, said the situation varies widely at individual schools. For instance, Cook said there’s a middle school that’s only got one science teacher for all three grade levels.
Wake’s vacancy rate is much higher for bus drivers at 30%, causing the district to cut back on the number of bus routes. This will lead to longer bus rides and more crowded buses for students
“While we’re still filling positions, while we’re still hiring folks, it is more challenging to hire these days than it has been in prior years,” AJ Muttillo, Wake’s assistant superintendent for human resources, said in an interview.
Durham Public School had 172 certified teacher vacancies.
Among certified staff, which includes teachers, Johnston County was reporting 113.5 vacancies and Chapel Hill-Carrboro was reporting 102 openings.
Based on how there are fewer applicants now, Nyah Hamlett, superintendent of Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools, said they’re only doing one round of interviews instead of the two they used to require.
”I’m hopeful that we will be able to get qualified candidates in all our classrooms by our first day of school, but I’m realistic about that,” Hamlett said in an interview.
While the salary supplements are high, especially compared to rural districts, Hamlett said the cost of living is also much higher in the Triangle. She said 60% of the district’s employees live outside Orange County.
‘Teaching really is the best job’
But amid the hiring rush, school leaders say they’re inspired by the people who still want to work in schools.
“It reminds us that even in the days of the Great Resignation we have a tremendous amount of impact on who we draw to Durham Public Schools,” said Lesane, the district’s head of human resources.
Maggie Rabil, who was hired by the Wake County school system in January, said she can’t imagine a better job than being a teacher. She graduated last year from N.C. State University with a master’s degree in education.
“Teaching really is the best job in my opinion,” Rabil, 25, a first-grade teacher at Barton Pond Elementary in Raleigh, said in an interview. “Every day you get to wake up and motivate and educate and just have fun with students.”
Teaching is what Liz Yardley says she feels like she was made to do. Yardley, 23, started teaching music in July at Sycamore Creek Elementary in Raleigh after graduating in May from UNC-Chapel Hill with a bachelor’s degree in education.
“There’s just a lot of joy in getting to work with students,” Yardley said in an interview. “It is hard, but I think those light bulb moments and those moments where you see kids excited to come into my classroom, that makes it really worth it for me.”
This story was originally published August 26, 2022 at 6:00 AM.
