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Subcommittee discusses 'Grow Your Own' recruitment, referral bonuses and rental incentives to address teacher shortages
Summary
District staff and committee members reviewed long-running Grow Your Own efforts, proposed referral bonuses and rental-reimbursement ideas to recruit and retain teachers and paraprofessionals; subcommittee voted to refer a discussion on referral bonuses and rental-reimbursement to the full committee with HR participation.
The Parent and Community Outreach Subcommittee discussed May 5 the district’s recruitment and retention strategies, including long-standing Grow Your Own partnerships, job-fair results and new ideas such as referral bonuses and rental reimbursement to attract teachers.
District staff described existing Grow Your Own work with nearby universities and community-college partnerships that support paraprofessionals and other staff in pursuing licensure and advanced degrees. “We can set up degree programs where people… can get low-cost or no-cost tuition and stay here while they work toward their master’s,” a district official said.
Committee members proposed additional incentives to address teacher turnover. One member suggested a rental-reimbursement or time-limited subsidy for early-career teachers to encourage them to locate in Fall River and commit to the district. Another recommended a structured employee-referral bonus and an ambassador program using long-tenured staff and retirees to recruit at colleges and community events.
The subcommittee voted to refer a study and discussion of referral bonuses, rental-reimbursement ideas and HR practices to the full committee and requested a presentation from the Human Resources director. The motion passed by roll call; committee members asked HR to provide cost estimates and implementation models.
