CINCINNATI — Severe staffing shortages are impacting school districts across the country — including right here in the Tri-State.
Cincinnati Public Schools currently has more than 100 vacant teaching positions.
On Tuesday, the district hosted a job fair at Aiken High School in hopes of taking steps toward a solution.
"I feel pretty confident, but I am a little nervous I won’t lie,” said Parker Chasteen, who is hoping to get a job teaching at a CPS school.
Chasteen is a graduate of Fairfield High School and Miami University. She heard about the job fair and decided to give it a shot.
"Why not? There's a lot of great people here and a lot of jobs," she said.
Audrey Busker just graduated from UC and said she’s excited to enter the teaching profession. She also attended the job fair on Tuesday.
"They did tell us this was a good time to be graduating — there's a lot of openings, a lot of teachers leaving," Busker said.
Finding qualified candidates to fill open positions is an ongoing challenge for CPS, as well as other districts across the country.
“The staffing shortage is real," said Julia Indalecio, senior director of HR and talent.
CPS is trying to hire teachers for the upcoming school year, all while navigating a change in leadership and cutting other positions in the district. The district announced last month they'll cut more than a dozen assistant principal and manager positions.
RELATED | CPS to eliminate 14 assistant principals, managers in effort to close budget deficit
Indalecio said it's a clear concern for potential candidates.
"We've been asked that a number of times — people have said I’m worried, like will my job be safe?" Indalecio said.
She said the cuts did not, and will not, include any teaching positions.
With all of their vacant teaching positions, CPS's goal for Tuesday was to fill a quarter of openings, Indalecio said.
"But it just depends on who shows up," she said.
Despite the current obstacles many teachers face, some applicants said they’re up for the challenge.
"Changes in administration can make teachers kinda wanna throw their hands up sometimes, but that can be a good thing for a teacher like me, who's looking for a job,” Chasteen said.
And Tuesday night, Chasteen may be throwing her hands up — but in celebration. She was hired and will be a teacher at Reese E. Price Academy in the fall.
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