HOUSTON – There are only six weeks until school starts, and the Houston Independent School District still has many job vacancies. The district is holding weekly hiring events to make sure people are in place to welcome students on Aug. 28.
Principals, teachers, nurses, and counselors are among the many job applicants HISD is hoping to attract. There are also some teacher vacancies within the New Education System schools.
According to the district, 700 hopefuls registered for a hiring event at Delmar Fieldhouse on Wednesday afternoon. Two hundred of the applicants were hoping to secure a teaching job.
“We are excited to see that hundreds more have shown up,” said HISD’s Executive Director of Talent Acquisition, William Solomon. “This turnout is absolutely incredible.”
The total number of current teacher vacancies in HISD is unclear.
“We will need to get that number to you in terms of the accurate number of teaching vacancies,” said Solomon.
HISD had over 600 teacher vacancies at the beginning of the school year last year. The district is undergoing a major overhaul. New Superintendent Mike Miles is reconstituting 28 schools deemed high-priority campuses and implementing the NES. Miles said the model will narrow achievement gaps and prepare students for the future.
According to the district, 845 NES teachers have been hired. 72% of those jobs were taken by teachers from within HISD, and there are about 65 NES teacher openings.
Kenisha Johnson, a new teacher, attended the event at Delmar Fieldhouse hoping to get one of the NES teacher jobs.
“Because I knew that you would get a lot of support as a new teacher with that system,” she said.
With weekly hiring events scheduled through Aug. 19, the district expects to have all of its employees in place on time.
“I’m feeling confident about our staffing before the start of school,” said Solomon.
Learn more about the hiring events here.
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