Petersburg City Public Schools’ assistant superintendent for human resources, Dr. Shamika Long Lane, told the school board on Aug. 6 that, division-wide, about 78% of classrooms were filled as the district readies for the 2025–26 school year.
Why it matters: Dr. Lane provided a school-by-school breakdown of classroom and support staffing gaps and said the district continues recruiting through partnerships with local universities and programs. The vacancies include core classroom teachers, instructional assistants, nurses and some administrative positions.
Lane said total school-based vacancies counted 37 in elementary, 14 across the two middle campuses (Vernon Johns/Blandford) and 11 at high school and alternative programs, for a total of 66 school-based openings. She said university partnerships with VCU, VSU, JMU and Brightpoint are supporting the district’s Grow Your Own pipeline and that provisional hires, resident teachers and university instructors had already filled several slots.
Superintendent Brown told the board that the district would not move forward with using two university-instructor placements for special-education teacher slots after incoming Assistant Superintendent Dr. Tori Manson reviewed IDEA funding requirements. Brown said Dr. Manson recommended filling special-education roles through other avenues to avoid supplanting federal IDEA funds; she said the district will continue searching for licensed special-education teachers.
Board members asked about specific vacancies and supports. Dr. Lane said six of the elementary vacancies could be aided by university instructors and that some school counts may change after personnel agenda approvals. Board member questions also focused on nurse vacancies, athletic trainer coverage (a contracted trainer from Bon Secours will continue), and the timeline to finalize hires before school opens.
Decisions and next steps: Human Resources will continue recruiting, update vacancy numbers as personnel items are approved, and work with the student-services team to fill special-education roles consistent with IDEA fund rules. Dr. Lane and the superintendent said they will provide follow-up updates at the next board meeting.