The staffing crisis at Alexandria City Public Schools has simmered, according to a recent presentation to the School Board.
The school system was significantly challenged by a shortfall of more than 150 positions in the 2023/2024 school year. Now ACPS is short 12 .75 teachers, 12 bus drivers and 23 central office staffers.
“Despite the ongoing teacher shortage across this country, our team has remained committed to attracting and retaining top talent to ensure our students have the best possible educational experience,” ACPS Chief of Staff Grace Taylor told the Board last Thursday night (Oct. 10). “Over the past year, the human resources department has implemented innovative strategies to enhance our recruitment processes. These efforts have yielded significant results.”
Valmond said there were 57 teacher vacancies at the start of the school year, and that the teacher vacancy rate is now less than 1%. The results are also partly due to more Teach for America teachers in ACPS classrooms, and the onboarding of staffers hired during the pandemic.
“For the 24/25 school year, we’ve successfully hired 250 licensed staff to date,” Valmond said. “We are committed to continuing our aggressive outreach to candidates across various platforms and channels.”
Valmond said that focused recruitment efforts let to the hiring of 31 secondary math and science teachers, as well as 75 substitute teachers this school year. The school system also provided recruitment and retention bonuses for those “hard-to-fill positions.”
“This achievement is a result of our team conducting substitute interviews for four days a week, for several hours each day,” she said.
School Board Member Chris Harris led the Board in a round of applause.
“We have had a shortage of all positions for some time,” Harris told Kamika Valmond, the ACPS executive director of human resources. “That’s not a small feat that you all have done.”
