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Questions about the Achievement schools

 
Published Aug. 13, 2018

With a Hillsborough County School Board meeting scheduled for 3 pm tomorrow, we hope the public will learn more about the 50 Achievement schools and who is teaching there.

At the last meeting on Aug. 1, Superintendent Jeff Eakins estimated there were 80 teaching vacancies, averaging 1 or 2 per school. He said he had a contingency plan that would make sure every child had a certified teacher or a high-quality coach at the front of the classroom until hiring was complete.

Responding later to questions from member Cindy Stuart, who wondered how the district could be on a hiring spree after cutting hundreds of jobs to make budget and give teachers most of their raises, Eakins said some of the money for specialist positions comes from a new $9 million federal school improvement grant, under a program called Unisig.

Here's what you see when you search the vacancy postings on the district's website: more than 100 at the Achievement schools, and 237 total. The most listings were at Sulphur Springs K-8 (12, including for third grade); 11 at James Elementary, which had 19 advertised vacancies when the district held its last-minute recruitment fair on July 24; eight at Shaw Elementary and seven at McDonald Elementary.

James Elementary School had 19 vacancies at a last-minute hiring fair last month. Some have since been filled. [MARLENE SOKOL | Times]

A few things to keep in mind: Hiring happens all the time, and the website is not always completely up to date.

But it is also worth noting that the last two personnel reports that came before the School Board listed six brand-new teachers at Shields Middle School, five at McLane Middle, nine at Armwood High and six at Booker T. Washington Elementary.

We've asked for a copy of the report Stuart requested, and will post it when it arrives.