Petersburg City Public Schools presented its teacher‑vacancy report to the board on Aug. 20, showing 84.4% of core, special education, English‑learner and encore/elective classrooms were filled as of Aug. 15, 2025. The district said vacancies are changing frequently as administrators make placement decisions ahead of the school year.

Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources Dr. Shameka Long Lane said Cool Spring, Walnut Hill and Westview elementary schools showed the highest proportions of unfilled classrooms among elementary sites; Pleasant Lane and Lakemont were reported as fully staffed for core classrooms. Districtwide figures include core, special education, English‑learner and encore classes (art, music, PE, library).

Dr. Long Lane presented school‑by‑school vacancy counts: for example, Cool Spring had seven core-grade vacancies; Walnut Hill had six; Westview reported several VPI/Head Start vacancies. At the secondary level, Blandford Academy and Vernon Johns Middle School together showed 10 core vacancies; Petersburg High and Pittman Academy together had nine vacancies.

To address shortages, the district is using a university‑instructor partnership to fill temporary slots. Dr. Long Lane said the vendor had been asked to recruit 15 positions and had filled 10 so far: six for elementary schools, two for middle school positions and two for special education placements. She also reported four new hires through the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) RTR program and five Virginia State University placements at Pleasant Lane (four) and one at a middle school.

The report said classroom fill rates combine fully licensed, provisionally licensed and resident teachers. Dr. Long Lane said the numbers were current as of Aug. 15 and that recruitment and placements were ongoing.

The board asked clarifying questions about where university instructors were placed and how many language teachers (Spanish) remained unfilled; HR said university‑instructor recruiting is actively targeting two Spanish positions at Vernon Johns Middle School.

Speakers: Dr. Shameka Long Lane (Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources) delivered the report. The board received the update and agreed HR will continue recruiting and report back as vacancies change.

Next steps: HR will continue active recruitment, finalize placements and provide updated vacancy reports to the board as positions are filled.