ORLANDO, Fla. — With students heading back to school on Monday, school districts across Central Florida are making a final push to fill the remaining teacher vacancies.
The good news: Districts are entering the new school year in much better shape than they were just a few years ago, and significantly better than they were at the start of the summer.
Still, dozens of classrooms across the region remain without permanent teachers as the first day of school gets underway.
Districts report making significant progress over the past several months, with some hiring hundreds of teachers since the start of summer.
In Orange County, teacher vacancies have fallen to about 1% of positions and continue to decline.
Volusia County has also made major progress. The district had more than 400 teacher openings at the start of the summer. Now, just 43 remain.
Brevard County reports it has filled nearly all of its roughly 4,800 teacher vacancies.
Other districts are also heading into the school year with relatively small numbers of openings:
- Seminole County: 29 openings
- Osceola County: 53 openings
- Marion County: 68 openings
- Lake County: 41 openings
District leaders credit partnerships with colleges and universities, hiring events and earlier recruiting efforts for helping bring down vacancy numbers.
The goal, they say, is straightforward: Make sure there is a qualified teacher ready to welcome students in every classroom when the first bell rings.
However, the hiring effort won’t end when school starts.
Districts say they will continue recruiting throughout the semester to fill positions that become available during the school year.
For school leaders, the progress made this summer is encouraging, but the push to keep classrooms staffed will continue well beyond the first day of school.
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