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District outlines recruitment, retention and student-recruitment strategies as enrollment hovers near 19,300
Summary
District leaders presented a multi-pronged recruitment plan for staff and students, reported current enrollment at about 19,300 and listed teacher vacancy counts for the start of the hiring season.
District staff presented a multi-pronged recruitment and student-recruitment plan at the Aug. 11 Akron Public School Board meeting, emphasizing relationships, marketing and grow-your-own pipelines to retain and hire staff and to increase in-district enrollment.
"Our number one recruitment strategy," said a district presenter, "is ensuring that every single person in Akron Public Schools understands that they are an ambassador for APS." The presenters described a strategy that combines universal communications, targeted outreach, on-the-spot hiring, university partnerships and efforts to recruit retired teachers back into classrooms.
Wilma Alexander (staff presenter) described work with regional universities and quarterly talent fairs; the district also explored staffing agencies such as Teach For America as a possible, paid recruitment channel and discussed incentives to recruit minority male teachers and alternative-pathway candidates. Staff emphasized the district’s efforts to streamline candidate experience and cultivate a local pipeline from pre-service work and grow-your-own programs.
Student-recruitment staff reported the district closed the 2024–25 school year with 19,737 students as reported on the state report card and said current enrollment in the student-information system stands at roughly 19,300; they cautioned daily counts continue to change as families complete registrations. The presenters said open enrollment runs Oct.–Dec., with districtwide kindergarten registration drives in the spring and a year-round presence at community events during summer.
District leaders provided vacancy counts for the current hiring season: 93 elementary vacancies at the start of the season (61 filled, 32 remaining), 59 middle-school vacancies (31 filled, 28 remaining), 48 high-school vacancies (34 filled, 14 remaining), and 16 college-and-career-academy openings (8 filled, 8 remaining). Board members asked for more measurable outcomes and for committee-level reviews of data so the board can evaluate return on investment for marketing and recruitment expenditures.
Member Sykes pressed for measurable outcomes and explicit cost/return metrics (for example, how many students or how much revenue each campaign produced). Staff said they have campaign metrics (digital-ad performance, open enrollment application counts and kindergarten-registration metrics) and offered to present detailed data to committee. The board agreed much of the detailed analysis should come to committee so plenary meetings remain focused on action items.
Presenters also described a county-wide awareness campaign that includes traditional advertising, a digital landing page and targeted Google and social advertising; staff noted an early-mailing survey had a lower-than-desired response rate but still produced useful qualitative feedback about why families choose schools outside the district.
