Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Staffing And Registration topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Urbandale district reports improved hiring and near-universal family registration ahead of school year
Summary
District HR reported higher staffing fill rates than last year but said special education associate openings remain the largest gap; the district also said family registration stood at about 93.98% with reminders about upcoming dates and enrollment deadlines.
The Urbandale Community School District on Thursday reported progress on hiring ahead of the school year while noting continued openings in special education and English-learner positions.
Lauren (identified in the meeting as director of HR and operations) told the board the district is "not 100% filled at this time" but said staffing is improved from the same point last year. "Compared to last year, at the same time, we had 3 special education teacher positions open, 29 special education associate positions open, and then 16 other classified positions. This year, our numbers are better," she said, adding the district currently has 18 open special education associate positions and is about "89% filled" overall for the positions discussed.
Lauren said the district plans to use combinations of full-time substitutes and regular hiring events to cover vacancies and noted some short-term absences (six to 12 weeks) are being filled with substitutes. She said related-arts positions are filled this year and administrators had hired additional full-time substitutes to start the year.
In an administrative report earlier in the meeting, the board heard that family registration was approximately 93.98% complete, the administration said, and staff encouraged families of kindergartners to complete open-enrollment applications by Sept. 1. The superintendent and board also reviewed several calendar and logistics dates: new teacher academy starts on the 13th of the month, teachers return for in-service the week of the 18th (with one flex day option), middle-school schedule pickup and ninth-grade orientation are set for the 20th and the first day of school is the 25th; the superintendent also reminded the board that the district no longer uses late-start days.
Board members thanked staff for the concise hiring report and emphasized the need to communicate registration and arrival-time expectations clearly to families before school begins. The director of HR said the district will continue outreach, hiring events, and screening for special education and EL candidates.
