Back in January, the Roanoke school system's human resources director traveled to the Philippines to recruit teachers.

When she came back, she said she had hired six qualified teachers, all of whom were to teach special education, a notoriously hard-to-fill position for schools across the country.

Fast forward about eight months. There's a new administration in the school system. The former human resources director, Gloria Simon, left over the summer.

Now, a day before the start of school, new administrators are left with a pressing question: Where are the six Filipino teachers?

"I am just dumbfounded by this," said Rita Bishop, who took over as superintendent a month ago.

The school system had prepared orientation packets for the Filipino hires and expected them on the first day of new teacher orientation Aug. 23.

They did not show up.

School administrators then tried unsuccessfully to contact Green Life Care International, the recruiting company that was supposed to arrange for the teachers to come to Roanoke. The company also arranged and paid for Simon's January trip to Manila and Cebu in the Philippines.

Last week, the school system finally got through to the company and cut ties with its missing teachers, canceling their contracts by mutual agreement, according to Bishop.

The teachers have not received any money from the school system, she said.

Loss of the six teachers comes at an inopportune time. As of the end of last week, school officials were still in need of eight teachers.

Isidro Rodriguez, who runs Green Life Care International, did not return several calls for comment last week. The company's Web site, greenlifecareinternational.com, appears to have been taken down.

"The best word I have is that one [teacher] is in the country," said Bishop.

Over the past few years, a shortage of teachers in such hard-to-fill areas as math, science and special education has forced school districts around the country to resort to hiring teachers from outside the United States. Virginia Beach and Spotsylvania, Bedford and Henry counties have all hired foreign teachers.

With the proper degrees, Filipino teachers can count as "highly qualified teachers" under the definitions set by the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

In a February interview, Rodriguez said he has placed 300 or 400 Filipino teachers in North Carolina and Virginia. The teachers work on H-1B visas, which allow them to work temporarily in the country.

Henry County hired five teachers through Green Life Care International last year, said Charles Preston, the county school system's human resources director.

Henry County's teachers did not show up on time, either. Preston said the delay last summer occurred after authorities in England discovered a plot to bomb airliners, heightening security concerns in the United States and delaying the teachers' travel.

Rodriguez was in contact with Henry County officials throughout the delay, said Preston.

"They didn't arrive until early October," he said. "We had to start the year with retired teachers or subs."

In the February interview, Rodriguez said immigration tie-ups sometimes make it difficult for Filipino teachers to get to their school districts on time.

Bishop said she hired a few new special education teachers last week and expressed confidence she would be able to fill all the openings soon.

It's unlikely Roanoke will try to hire more foreign teachers any time soon. Bishop has vowed to launch an aggressive recruiting campaign immediately after Christmas.

During her convocation speech last week she pointedly said, "I think we can hire teachers from the United States of America."

Lancaster, Pa., where Bishop used to serve as superintendent, did not hire Filipino teachers under her tenure and has not had problems with recruiting, Bishop said.

"I think that if you really have this area and you can't fill it, I certainly have nothing against hiring from other areas outside the United States. If you do early aggressive recruiting this should not be necessary."