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District proposes 1-year 'personal care assistant' residency to fill paraprofessional gaps
Summary
Harnett County Schools' HR staff proposed a limited pilot to hire up to 10–15 one-year Personal Care Assistants (PCAs) who would complete required college credits and WorkKeys within a year and be eligible to move into regular TA positions, with coursework partnered through Central Carolina Community College.
Human Resources described a pilot program to expand the district's candidate pool for paraprofessional roles by creating a one-year Personal Care Assistant position that pairs on-the-job placements with required coursework.
"These PCAs will agree to complete the required 6 hours of college credit and work key assessments within a 1 year term," the presenter said, explaining that after successful completion they could be transferred into regular TA positions. The HR representative emphasized the plan would not create new positions but would repurpose existing assignments where appropriate and initially limit the pilot to about 10–15 PCAs.
The district said it is partnering with Central Carolina Community College to offer the two courses once each semester; combined cost for both courses and work-keys was presented as $850, and staff noted many candidates may qualify for financial assistance. The proposal aims to address a difficult hiring environment for teacher assistant roles while meeting Title I paraprofessional definitions and federal requirements for instructional support.
Board members were briefed and did not take final action on the policy at the meeting; staff said schools would be identified and the pilot kept small to test the model before wider rollout.
