John R. Lewis Elementary School music teacher Elena Prestwood welcomes a student wearing a face shield and a face mask into the school building on the first day of in-person learning at the school in Atlanta, Tuesday, March 9, 2021. (Alyssa Pointer / [email protected])
By Kristal Dixon
The DeKalb County School District has nearly three dozen teacher vacancies it wants to fill before the start of the 2021-22 school year.
As of March 15, DeKalb schools had 35 vacancies, 20 of which were for certified teachers and 15 for special education teachers, Michelle Jones, interim chief human resources officer, recently told board of education members.
Jones also said the district as of March 15 hired 116 new people — 51 certified teachers and 65 for classified positions — as of last week.
The district also approved 203 separations, 80 of which were for certified teachers and 123 for classified employees. Jones added that 7,052 teachers are employed by the DeKalb school system, Jones said.
Comparatively, Gwinnett County schools has 242 vacancies, 149 for regular education teachers and 93 for special education teacher, said district spokeswoman Sloan Roach. Gwinnett County Schools has 11,839 teachers.
Roach said the district is on track to hire all necessary educators by its new teacher orientation date and will continue to host job fairs throughout the spring. She also said the district’s retention rate, 90.3%, is the highest it’s been in 10 years.
Atlanta Public Schools is hoping to fill roughly 119 teacher vacancies for the 2021-22 school year, said spokesman Seth Coleman. The district has about 3,000 teachers.
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