Okaloosa schools report hiring gains but key vacancies remain, officials say

Okaloosa County School District human resources officials told the school board the district filled hundreds of positions over the summer but still faces vacancies in high‑need areas, especially exceptional student education (ESE) and transportation. HR reported 262 staff starting the year in new placements, including 123 new hires and 139 transfers. Of the 123 new hires, HR said 65 were career changers and only eight were recent college graduates. "Of those 123 new hires...over 52% are career changers," an HR official said. The district reported 24 instructional vacancies across all levels at the time of the workshop; about 10 of those are ESE instructional positions. HR said this is an improvement over past years: two years ago the district started the year with 72 vacancies. "We're progressively getting a little bit better," the HR official said. Support‑staff hiring included 92 hires this summer, 49 of them paraprofessionals; officials noted that paraprofessionals and ESE paraassignments remain among the higher‑need positions. The district also reported more than 650 substitutes on its roster. Transportation remains a pressure point. Officials said about 30 bus driver routes needed coverage and cautioned that a single posting can represent multiple openings at a site. "We have 30 bus drivers. So 30 bus drivers. And that it's kind of an interesting way that we post those," an HR official told the board. Despite vacancies, transportation staff and substitute drivers covered routes on the first day of school, the superintendent said. Board members and HR staff commended hiring analysts, risk management and finance teams for processing the volume of hires and onboarding over the summer. HR said 14 hires were still in process and two candidates had not yet responded to offer letters. The report was informational; the workshop transcript does not show board votes related to personnel items.