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Ashboro City Schools reports lower attrition, expands recruitment and mentor supports
Summary
The district reported improved recruitment outcomes and lower teacher attrition, detailed a beginning-teacher program and mentor supports, and highlighted benefits and local supplements intended to aid retention while noting early-career losses remain the largest category.
Ashboro City Schools leaders on Monday told the school board the district’s recruitment and retention efforts are showing early progress amid ongoing statewide workforce challenges.
"Our district attrition rate is 6.7% and our LEA attrition rate is 11.5%," said Gail Higgs, chief human resources officer, presenting state figures that reflect employees who left between March 2024 and March 2025. Higgs told the board those numbers mark improvement from the prior year and said the largest share of departures statewide still occurs in teachers’ first year.
Board members heard several active recruitment strategies: attendance at about a dozen career fairs, strengthened university relationships (ECU, NC State, UNCG), an ACS Experience outreach day to introduce candidates to district schools, and partnerships such as the Teach program with Randolph Community College that produced a new cohort of seven entrants.
Kendra Manning, director of communication and talent development, outlined onboarding and retention work: a beginning-teacher program that provides mentors and targeted support for the first three years, local salary supplements (7.5% starting supplement for certified staff, higher for advanced degrees and special-education roles), and a district-paid dental-insurance benefit that staff said is a notable recruiting point.
Higgs said the district now has 45 beginning teachers and 10 mentors and emphasized that retention is shaped by working conditions and professional-growth pathways in addition to compensation. "Retention is more than budget increases and salary adjustments," she said, pointing to mentoring, time for planning and leadership pathways.
Officials also described a new exit-interview process launched within the HR office to capture reasons for departure and said the district will continue to tailor supports for early-career staff.
Board members asked about alternative-licensure hires and the district noted that career and technical education professionals and candidates from varied content areas are increasingly represented in alternative-licensure pools.
No formal board action was required. District staff said they will continue to expand recruitment pipelines and deepen early-career supports as they prepare the next year’s staffing and budget requests.
