District seeks agency staff for hard‑to‑fill special‑education roles; administrators to provide applicant data on request

Rockford Public Schools staff presented consent items authorizing contracts with independent contractors and staffing agencies to fill hard‑to‑fill special‑education related‑service positions.
A district staffing administrator explained that for independent contractors the district interviews candidates supplied by an agency and then selects whom to hire. The district said one agency (AMN) was replaced by Presence and that other agencies such as Agape and SSG have provided staff who were rehired when the district found the candidates effective.
Board members asked whether the district would supply data on applicant pools and retention. The administrator said the district tracks whether agency staff are invited back after a year and that specific counts of returning staff could be provided on request. The administrator also said the district serves more than 4,850 students with disabilities who may receive one or more related services under individualized education programs.
Discussion only: the committee reviewed the proposed contracts and asked for follow‑up information on applicant demographics and retention; no final vote on the consent items was recorded in the meeting transcript.
Ending: Administrators said they would provide additional data on hiring pipelines, categories of disabilities served and the number of returning agency staff upon board request.