Good news for Hillsborough’s Achievement Schools

Updated with specific school numbers

Hillsborough district officials have been watching closely to see if their 50 Achievement Schools will have enough teachers this year, and so far they are encouraged.

Here are the statistics Superintendent Jeff Eakins shared at Tuesday morning’s School Board workshop:

The district has made more than 1,000 new hires for instructional positions. This is for all schools, not just the Achievement group. Last year at this time, that number was 668.

As of July 19, there were 135 interns. That was a “significant increase” over the previous year.

From June 12 to July 10, there were 30 potential qualifying referrals for teaching jobs based on a new venture with the Hillsborough Education Foundation.

In July, which included a holiday week, the district processed 306 instructional hires. They are also working Saturdays to complete processing for 85 more teachers.

The district is also helping long term substitute teachers with bachelors degrees to obtain t heir teaching credentials. Nearly 25 percent of those substitutes will become district teachers for the new school year.

Specifically to the Achievement Schools, Superintendent Jeff Eakins told the board that at the beginning of the 2018-19 school year, there were close to 200 vacancies.

“We’re now sitting at 85 across all the 50 schools," he said. “Eighteen are fully staffed, so we have 32 schools looking at average of two or two and a half. We’re definitely heading in a new direction.”

The Times took a look at the advertised vacancies on Wednesday morning and found the numbers were very close to those Eakins shared.

James Elementary, which led the district last summer and for much of the school year, was down to four vacancies - two in fourth grade, one in exceptional education and one in social work, which means only three of those vacancies were in the classroom.

Those now showing the most vacancies are Kenly Elementary with eight, including five in the classroom; Clair-Mel Elementary, Sligh and Shields Middle with five apiece, all in the classrooms; and Robles Elementary with five, four of them in the classroom.

As they have in the past, district officials cautioned that some listings might be duplicated or out of date. They also pointed out that until students return to school on Aug. 12, it is impossible to say how many teachers are really needed.

The hiring continues. Click here if you are interested in becoming a teacher.