Many school districts in McLennan County like Midway, Connally and Lorena are fully staffed with teachers, but Waco ISD still has a few positions to fill before the start of the upcoming school year.
Just last month, there were more than 60 open teaching positions at Waco ISD. After a few job fairs, that number has dwindled down to just seven.
Elaine Botello is the Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources with Waco ISD. She said they aren't worried about the vacancies since the numbers are comparable to what they experienced last summer.
"I think it may even be a little less than we had last year around this time," Botello said.
Of those seven positions available, three are for special education teachers.
"Special education teachers are very hard to find," Botello said. "They are considered to be in the critical shortage area identified by the state as a hard position to fill."
If the positions aren't filled, Botello said the district will look at class sizes to see if any children can be moved around.
If classes are at capacity, they will look at alternative options like hiring people who are finishing up their certification program.
"They would start out as a substitute since they can't take the test until late August, after school starts," Botello said. "As soon as they pass their certification test, they will be hired on as a teacher."
Botello said they may also hire substitutes who are retired teachers and already certified.
"We do have some options to make sure our students are being served by qualified staff," Botello said. "We're pretty confident that we're going to be able to make sure that every classroom has a teacher in it."
If you're interested in applying for one of the open positions, click here.
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