Boerne ISD says vacancies fell from 64 to 7 after hiring push; bus driver shortfall eliminated
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Summary
Human Resources reported vacancies dropped from 64 a year ago to seven this month, with bus-driver vacancies falling from eight to zero and speech-language-pathologist openings reduced to one. District officials credited expanded hiring events, university partnerships and new residency and pathway programs.
Human Resources officials told trustees Sept. 15 that aggressive recruiting and partnership strategies have sharply reduced vacancies districtwide.
“Between our university events and our workforce partnership events, we participated in approximately 30 different hiring events, which led to significant improvements in our staffing,” Rose Prewen said. She reported a drop from 64 vacancies last year to seven this year and highlighted specific decreases: bus-driver vacancies from eight to zero and SLP (speech-language-pathologist) vacancies from eight to one.
Prewen described retention and pipeline strategies including pre-hire agreements, a paid teacher residency in partnership with Texas A&M that allowed a teaching assistant to remain on staff while completing student-teaching requirements, alternative-certification partnerships (Indiana Wesleyan, Teachworthy), and a robust CTE teacher pathway with 67 students in their final two years. The district also plans an Aspiring Leaders Academy to prepare internal candidates for instructional-coach and administrative roles.
Trustees discussed pay adjustments, the cost and savings of reduced contracted services (notably for SLPs), and next steps to lower turnover costs. Prewen said the district will run targeted focus groups this year to identify why employees stay and to inform recruiting and retention strategies.