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PCPS outlines recruitment push and 82 school‑based vacancies; board questions central‑office staffing
Summary
Petersburg City Public Schools’ HR office outlined a stepped‑up recruitment effort July 16 after Frontline implementation, reporting about 35 applications per week and a snapshot of 82 school‑based vacancies and 41 central‑office vacancies while the district completes a data‑cleansing project.
Petersburg City Public Schools’ human resources office presented a multi‑pronged recruitment plan to the school board on July 16 and released vacancy counts that prompted questions from board members about central‑office staffing and pay.
Assistant Superintendent Dr. Shamika Long Lane and personnel specialist Duane Brown outlined tactics including boosted social‑media ads, targeted ads, career pop‑ups at Vernon Johns Middle School and the Petersburg Public Library, and a digital ad that ran on displays at Richmond International Airport. “One of the things we are going to be doing is employee branding,” Brown said, adding the division has begun using QR‑code job ads and boosted posts to increase clicks.
HR said the Frontline applicant tracking system, launched May 1, increased average applications per week to about 35. The division reported a school‑based vacancy snapshot of 82 positions (44 early childhood/elementary, 16 middle/high and 6 school‑based administrative vacancies) and a separate 41 vacancies in the school board office (35 “other” vacancies and 6 administrative slots) while the team completes a position‑control data cleansing project.
Board members pressed leaders for more detail. Halby Miles noted the 41 central‑office vacancies and asked how many employees the central office should have; Brown said the HR team was still validating the data. Miles said dollars rather than advertising will determine whether the district can recruit and retain staff: “If we take that same money and give it to certified licensed teachers, I’m quite sure we’d get some people in here.”
HR described recruitment results from small local events: two career pop‑ups at Vernon Johns and two at the public library produced 44 attendees and five hires. The team also said it is testing boosted ads and airport screens and expanding posting channels to EdJoin, Handshake, Indeed and K12JobSpot. It reported sign‑on bonuses already awarded to several hires at schools identified as comprehensive or targeted support.
Several board members and the superintendent raised retention as a priority. Dr. Lane and Dr. Brown described recent retention bonuses, a revised onboarding and orientation program, an exit‑survey process and plans for a compensation and classification study to benchmark pay. “Retention is the key,” Dr. Lane said; Superintendent Brown added the division will commission a full comp‑and‑class review and cited past board action raising pay for certain staff.
The board did not take a vote on policy or budget in the HR presentation, but members asked HR to return with more granular vacancy and salary ranges and to accelerate efforts to validate position data and identify waste or realignment opportunities.
