No summer break for Roanoke Valley's school staff recruiters

Roanoke Valley education officials said they are in good shape when it comes to staffing for the new school year with little, if any, hiring left to do.

With area teachers back in the classroom, or headed that way soon, the long process to find, hire and place educators is slowing somewhat.

The work of filling positions started in the winter. In the past few weeks officials worked feverishly to fill positions amid last-minute staffing changes and vacancies in time for first day of school.

Some officials said the process can feel endless, and in a way it is, with many saying they are always looking for good teachers.

In Roanoke County, where educators returned to work Monday and students head back to class next week, officials there said the number of vacancies, even if there weren’t many, change daily.

“Some of these situations would be people making family decisions about staying at home with children or moving with spouses. Those kinds of things,” said Carol Whitaker, the county’s assistant superintendent of personnel. “If you lose one, you start looking around to see who has what interests and if there are people inside the county or if you need to do a post outside the county.”

Roanoke County starts its recruiting in the winter and that work stretches into spring, but Whitaker said the search for potential applicants is constant.

“Recruiting is a year-round process,” she said. “No matter what month or day it is, you know if I’m talking to someone out in the community or anywhere, I’m always in the back of my mind thinking about: Is this a potential candidate for us? I think you have to be mindful of that constantly.”

Philip Poff, Franklin County Public Schools’ director of human resources, said it’s not long after school begins that the hiring process starts all over.

“We start interviewing in February. We start interviewing December grads back in the fall,” Poff said. “We’re trying our best to stay ahead and have a pool of people.”

He said part of maintaining that pool means staying in contact with people who move into the county during the year and those college students who graduate in December. He said he also encourages people to take teacher assistant positions when they’re available so if there’s a vacancy, they are already in the system.

“The door barely cracks open, and when it does, you want to be standing right outside of it,” he said.

Poff said this is particularly true at the elementary level, where he often sees more candidates than he has vacancies.

Jill Green, Botetourt County Public Schools’ director of human resources, said a recent job posting for a kindergarten teacher attracted 25 applications in less than 24 hours. She also said her division has few openings for elementary school teachers.

Local school officials said special education, science and math positions are difficult to fill.

“I’m always looking for math teachers,” Poff said, adding that some systems have offered signing bonuses for tough-to-fill positions, but Franklin County hasn’t gone that route yet.

Roanoke, where students returned to school Monday, has taken that step.

Sandra Burks, the city school division’s executive director for human resources, said she thinks the incentives have helped. Officials offer them for science, math and special education teachers.

Like other divisions, Roanoke begins recruiting in the winter. The school system also sends school board members on recruiting trips and allows recruiters to offer contracts , which officials said helps with hiring.

Like her counterparts in the Roanoke Valley, Burks said the weeks leading up to school are crunch time.

“There are typically some last-minute surprises that create vacancies,” she said. “Every year, for a variety of reasons, we have employees who, two weeks before school begins, turn in their resignation.”

For example, Burks said, a spouse might be moving.

A variety of factors come into play, making the months leading up to school hectic for those doing the hiring.

“The summer months are the busiest we have,” said Roanoke County’s Whitaker , adding she takes her vacation in October.

Franklin County’s Poff concurs.

“I don’t go on vacation in the summertime.”

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