Local districts struggle with admin, staff vacancies as school year looms

RIVERSIDE, Ohio ( WDTN ) — As students across the Miami Valley prepare to head back to the classroom in the coming weeks, many schools have several teacher vacancies.

Fairborn City Schools Assistant Superintendent Amy Gayheart says they’re becoming more creative in how they attract applicants for vacancies.

“Any time that there is a position to fill, that is a process to go through to find a quality candidate,” said Gayheart.

Many of those vacancies were created by teachers who left the field altogether. Months later, those positions still haven’t been filled.

“But we’re leaving no stone unturned at this point. If there is an option or an opportunity, we’re pursuing those, even if it may be a more nontraditional route,” said Gayheart.

Gayheart says one of the biggest challenges for schools is to fill positions that don’t provide full-time working hours, citing examples like crossing guards and noon duty aides.

At Mad River Local Schools, superintendent Chad Wyen says they are 100% filled with no vacancies for their teaching positions. However, the district is still facing major challenges with attracting teaching candidates from outside of the Dayton area and filling substitute teacher roles.

This year, the district made pay for substitute teachers more competitive.

“We actually upped our sub pay rate to $175 per day for substitute teachers to make that attractive,” said Wyen.

Wyen says while the district does not have teaching shortages at the moment, it is a priority to maintain the employees currently working.

But, he says, candidate pools are shallow for positions like bus drivers and professional aides.

“But oftentimes recruiting bus drivers, for example, you’re just pulling from another school district,” said Wyen.

To learn more about open positions, visit the Dayton Area School Consortium .

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