Board members at the Beloit School District’s Nov. 4 meeting pressed HR leaders for a faster, targeted approach to persistent classroom vacancies and a shortage of substitutes that they said is stretching teachers and disrupting students.

The board’s discussion followed a presentation of a staffing plan current as of Oct. 23, 2025. HR leader Missus Almendarez said the district is ‘‘continuously hiring’’ and described recruitment and retention work, but acknowledged that vacancies remain. ‘‘We are working with the building administration to address how those gaps can be covered,’’ she said. ‘‘We will be upping a lot of [effort] with the filling of the staffing coordinator position.’’

Why it matters: Board members identified specific elementary ‘‘hot spots’’ where daily staffing gaps are chronic. Carol Fox noted that Converse and Todd elementaries each have two classroom vacancies and limited permanent substitutes; she said the result is unstable classrooms for young students. ‘‘Our kids need somebody who greets them every day,’’ Fox said, urging the district to prioritize filling those positions.

What HR said: Almendarez described multiple tactics: expanding outreach to higher-education partners, bringing student teachers into buildings, increasing visibility and orientation for staff hired mid-year, and using contracted services as a temporary measure when direct hires are not available. On contracted staffing, she said the district treats it as a ‘‘band‑aid’’ and evaluates cost versus benefit, noting that in some cases contracted staff can be retained by mutual agreement at the end of a year.

Board requests and next steps: Members asked for more data to guide decisions. Megan Miller requested a report disaggregating applicant counts and turnaround times by position type (e.g., special education, paraprofessionals, general education). Brian Nichols asked HR to provide the current count of unfilled teacher and substitute openings; board conversation suggested a rough ballpark near 49–50 vacancies but the exact number was not available during the meeting.

Special-education and program scheduling concerns: The board also raised cross-categorical (special ed) staffing shortages and the schedule for shared music/band positions across elementary schools. Carol Fox said some schools are operating with far fewer special‑education teachers than their staffing templates call for. Almendarez agreed to secure schedules and numbers for the board.

Bottom line: The board urged HR to prioritize daily classroom coverage at elementary schools, fill the staffing coordinator FTE, and provide clearer data on applicant pipelines and time-to-hire so trustees can oversee progress. No binding policy change or budget action was taken at the Nov. 4 meeting; the board requested follow-up information and monitoring.