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District reports fewer vacancies than last year but still seeks 50 classroom teachers; HR outlines recruitment and retention initiatives
Summary
New Haven Public Schools reported Aug. 25 that total vacancies declined to 156 from 198 a year earlier, but the district still needs to fill about 50 classroom teacher positions and has priority openings in math and special education.
New Haven Public Schools told the Board of Education on Aug. 25 that district staffing is improved compared with one year ago but that critical hiring needs remain, particularly for classroom teachers, paraeducators and non‑instructional support staff.
Superintendent Madeline Negron summarized a rightsizing effort that reduced 77 positions to align staffing with current enrollment. She said the district had a high number of retirements tied to an expiring extended medical benefits package and that resignations totaled 303 in 2024–25 compared with 340 the prior year. “We are also in the data you're going to see that we had a high number of retirements this year,” Negron said, noting many educators left after long service.
Rolanda Booker, coordinator for recruitment and retention, presented vacancy data the HR office compiled: total vacancies stand at 156 compared with 198 the previous year; classroom (core) teacher vacancies decreased from 77 to 50; non‑classroom certified teacher openings decreased from 19 to 9; paraeducator openings decreased from 45 to 35; non‑instructional vacancies increased slightly from 54 to 60. Booker said those changes represent roughly a 21% decrease in overall vacancies year‑over‑year and a roughly 35% decrease in classroom teacher vacancies.
HR outlined specific recruitment and retention strategies: a para‑to‑para‑pro pathway that trains paraprofessionals and pays for certification exam vouchers; partnerships with credentialing programs and universities (Teach For America, CREC residency, Yale fellowship, Southern Connecticut State University); expansion of teacher‑prep pipelines from local high schools; targeted recruitment of out‑of‑state candidates and partnerships with historically Black colleges and universities for teacher pipelines; a new mentor program pairing veteran teachers with early‑career teachers; and reconstituting a retention committee with stakeholders across the district. HR also added an administrative assistant focused on onboarding and tracking new hires to improve customer service for employees.
Booker said the district continues daily recruitment for priority shortage areas including math and special education. She also noted that some classrooms are covered by degree‑holding substitutes while teachers are out on extended leave. Board members praised HR’s progress and urged continued work on retention; several members noted HR has performed strongly despite being a small staff relative to the workload.
Next steps: HR will continue recruitment and report back on progress; the mentor program and retention committee will be implemented in the coming months and the district will present updated vacancy counts at future meetings.
