KILLEEN, Texas — As the school year gets underway in Killeen, the district told 6 News Tuesday they remain 155 teachers short and would like nothing more than to hire all of them tomorrow, but they can't.
"We are working to get every position filled, but the reality is there just aren't applicants," said Taina Maya, Killeen ISD chief of communications and marketing. "We're seeing there's a very low applicant pool which is devastating because we know there is a huge need to educate not only in Killeen ISD but throughout the state," she said.
It's not just in Killeen either, currently there are 21 openings in Waco and three openings in Temple. Both of those districts said they have plans in place but overall feel comfortable with where they are.
"All of our campuses have a plan so that if they have a position that is left to be filled they know what they are going to do on the first day if we don't fill it this week," said Kyle DeBeer with Waco ISD.
Temple ISD Superintendent Bobby Ott said they held an extra job fair during the summer and things are trending the way they had hoped.
"We have been tracking very well in terms of our staffing and we only have three vacancies and we are pretty confident we will have those hired out here pretty soon," Dr. Ott said.
Maya said KISD is leveling off classes this week, something that happens every year, after an influx of students during the first week. She said, too, there may be students who didn't withdraw from the district over the summer and all of that could lead to some shuffling of students and teachers if needed.
"We may have a really large third grade class but we stacked our pre-K teachers up so we may need to move some of those pre-K teachers to be third grade teachers," she explained.
Ott added that many districts could be seeing a teacher shortage because of the stimulus money which has created additional jobs that are outside the classroom, but still provides support services to a handful of children at a time.
"What you have seen is a lot of teachers that are within their last five years of retirement they have moved into those roles," Ott explained. "Those are roles of interventionalists, literacy coaches and content specialists."
Ott said those that have moved into those roles are great fits for those students, many who need those veteran teachers to provide the education they need. He acknowledged that it does have a ripple effect.
"Nonetheless, you have to backfill and it leaves positions open," Ott said. "So when you're a district adding 70 additional positions due to stimulus money, certainly you're going to have vacancies."
Maya said KISD saw teachers leave due to burnout attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic and retirement. In the interim, she said the district has hired substitutes and long-term substitute teachers to fill vacancies. She believes now is the perfect time for those looking to change careers into education, especially at KISD.
"What makes Killeen so different from other districts is that we are a part of the Teacher Incentive Allotment Cohort 1, which means teachers, based on testing data scored this year and their mastery level, could be making $20,000 on top of their salary in 2022-23 through KISD's Teacher Incentive Allotment Program," Maya said.
Maya promised the district is working to make sure no child is left behind, especially coming off of a year that saw children fall behind in school because of distance learning.
"We know there is going to be some growing pains throughout this process because we've lost a lot of teachers but we're committed as a district through teamwork to make sure we are supporting our students," Maya said.
When asked her message to parents, on the second day of classes, as they figure out a teacher shortage in Bell County's largest district, Maya offered for those concerned to come work for them and be a part of something special.
"It takes a village to raise a child and we need the cillage of Killeen, Bell County, Central Texas to come together and help us make sure we can properly do this for each and every student," she said.