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Board approves temporary MOU to streamline hiring of instructional assistants
Summary
The governing board approved a one-year memorandum of understanding with the Paradise Valley Education Association to allow district-level recruitment and placement of instructional assistants to address a persistent vacancy rate.
The Paradise Valley Unified School District governing board approved a one-year memorandum of understanding with the Paradise Valley Education Association to help the district recruit and place instructional assistants more effectively.
Board members moved the item from the consent agenda for discussion. District staff said the district has had persistent difficulty filling instructional-assistant positions and that the vacancy rate has been "pretty consistently around a 30% vacancy rate." The staff presentation said the MOU allows the district to conduct more centralized recruiting and to work with school sites to match candidates, while maintaining site involvement. The presenter said instructional assistants are not certified teachers but often work in special education settings and sometimes later pursue teacher certification.
Board members asked for clarification about the scope of the change (the presenter said it applies specifically to instructional-assistant positions, not ad hoc fill-in teaching roles) and whether the MOU is permanent; staff said the MOU is for the coming year and could be addressed in bargaining next year. The motion to approve the MOU passed unanimously by voice vote.
The board recorded the approval as an MOA for the 2025-26 school year; staff said it is intended as a recruitment tool to reduce vacancies and assist placement at school sites.
