- July 26, 2024
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Volusia County Schools is wrapping up the 2022-2023 school year with 351 instructional vacancies, the School Board reported during its Tuesday, May 23 meeting.
Of the vacancies, the largest share — 97 — are for ESE teacher positions, while 74 are for core teachers.
The district also reported 372 support vacancies. Of those, 99 are in the custodial department: The district, which previously outsourced custodial services, is switching to in-house custodians at schools and district ancillary sites.
Also included in the 372 support vacancies are 95 paraprofessional positions.
“We are in the process of looking forward to next year,” said Mark West, chief human resources officer for Volusia County Schools. “So we’re going to be bringing information and numbers to you that reflect next year’s vacancies. Fortunately, we’re catching them early.”
So far, 756 people have separated from VCS, including 106 employees who retired.
A total of 102 reported finding employment outside of education as their reason for separation, while 169 listed personal reasons and 72 listed finding a job in education somewhere else in the state.
To address the vacancies, the district is hosting two job fairs: One from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Tuesday, May 30, at the Daytona State College’s campus in Deltona at 2351 Providence Blvd.; and a second one from 4-7 p.m. on Wednesday, May 31, at Horizon Elementary School, at 4751 Hidden Lake Drive in Port Orange.
School Board Chair Jamie Haynes said that while hosting two job fairs is a good start, the district needs to expand its efforts. She’d like to see six more fairs to reach residents in other parts of the county, held at different times.
“We need more options,” she said. “We need more options, because I don’t see my families in Seville or Pierson — that very well could want to be working at one of those schools — having the ability to get to Deltona. That’s a long way.”
West said he agreed and that those factors were part of the conversation at the district level.
Haynes also suggested the district go beyond advertising employment on social media, and spread the word to local chambers of commerce, churches, doctor’s offices and community centers.
“There are people out there that will work,” Haynes said. “We just have to find them.”
