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Tuscaloosa City Schools previews multi-year plan to recruit and retain special-education staff
Summary
District staff presented a three-year recruitment and retention initiative for special-education teachers and paraprofessionals that includes competitive supplements (a $1,000 annual supplement for self-contained teachers and stipends for paraprofessionals), professional development, caseload management and a 30/60/90 evaluation timeline.
Tuscaloosa City Schools staff presented a multi-year initiative aimed at recruiting and retaining special-education teachers and paraprofessionals, telling the board the proposal is designed to address a growing caseload and chronic vacancies.
"When we asked them what was number 1, it was competitive compensation," said Dr. Prescott, who led the presentation and said the plan was built from listening sessions with current special-education staff. The presentation laid out six focus areas: competitive pay and incentives, caseload and case-manager organization, paperwork and planning time, mentoring and new-teacher induction, professional learning for paraprofessionals, and monitoring/program evaluation with a 30/60/90 timeline.
Dr. Prescott said the district serves roughly 1,600 students receiving special-education services and has seen growth of about 400 students since the COVID school years. The proposal includes a compensation component the board will be asked to approve at a later meeting: Dr. Prescott described a $1,000-per-year supplement for self-contained teachers and additional stipends to include paraprofessionals, and said the initial term would be three years with annual evaluations.
A district staff member speaking earlier framed the proposal as both a recruiting and retention strategy and said the plan includes pathways for general-education teachers to become certified in special education so they could become eligible for the supplement. "We're going out not just locally; we have to go outside the state of Alabama as well as nationally to be able to recruit our special education personnel," Dr. Prescott said.
Board members asked about downsides and equity concerns. A board member asked whether the supplement would create perceived unfairness among other teachers; staff replied the pathway to certification and tuition support already exists through partnerships (including university programs named in the presentation) to allow general-education teachers to become eligible for the program. The presentation was offered for board receipt; staff said formal approval of the compensation component will be requested at the next board meeting.
Next steps: the board received the presentation for review and questions; staff said they will return with the formal compensation recommendation for board action at a future meeting.
