Richland District 1 HR outlines recruitment and retention plan; highlights high career‑fair satisfaction

Dr. Curry Jones, presenting for the Office of Human Resources, told the Richland District 1 administration committee on Oct. 21 that the district is expanding recruitment and retention efforts for the 2025–26 school year, emphasizing broader outreach, stronger collegiate partnerships and enhanced induction supports.

Jones said the district now partners with 44 institutions for student‑teacher placements and residency programs, uses online platforms such as Handshake to track events, and has targeted residency placements in historically hard‑to‑serve schools. “We have student teachers and intern placements from those 44 institutions,” Jones said, and added that the district offers incentives including a $3,000 signing bonus for student teachers and tuition‑reimbursement support tied to certification testing.

Why it matters: the district is operating in a tight labor market for educators and support staff. Jones presented 2024–25 recruitment data showing 478 career‑fair attendees, 216 interns across fall and spring, 32 recruitment events and roughly 291 resumes in the district database. For 2025–26 she said the district has already attended 20 recruitment events this year, has 135 fall interns and 18 residents in schools so far; a fall career fair is scheduled for Nov. 8.

Key strategies and programs: Jones described multiple pathways the district is using to broaden the pipeline — teacher cadet programs, Project RISE (to support paraprofessionals into certification), teacher residencies (Carolina CAP, APEC, CREATE, SCDream) and targeted outreach such as military‑base recruiting. Jones said SCDream residents are committed to the district for three years following residency. She also described an induction program that offers 10–13 differentiated monthly sessions, shared coaching between HR and teaching‑and‑learning, an interactive FAQ guidebook and micro‑credentials for more experienced induction cohorts.

Commissioner questions and clarifications: committee members pressed for trend data and timing; Jones said the district has administered the midyear survey since 2021 and will bring trend comparisons, noting that 89% of induction teachers in the midyear sample said they felt supported and the overall end‑of‑year induction satisfaction score was 4.5 on a 5‑point scale. A committee member asked whether the district provides mental‑health supports; district staff confirmed an employee assistance program that offers no‑cost counseling and said HR coaching is explicitly used to support retention.

On incentives, a commissioner noted a slide discrepancy about tuition reimbursement: Jones confirmed tuition reimbursement is $800 per course and that a separate $500 figure referenced referral stipends. Jones also said the district is reviewing a memorandum of agreement with a dealership and will present details when that partnership is finalized.

Data requests and next steps: the chair asked staff to report back on conversion metrics (what percentage of interns or career‑fair attendees later become hires); Jones said those metrics can be tracked and that she will return with trend data from the statewide SC teacher climate survey and district records. The committee had no further objections and adjourned.

The administration committee received the presentation and engaged HR on data, mental‑health supports, incentives and recruitment partnerships; staff will return with additional trend and conversion data in a subsequent report.