WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (CBS12) — The Palm Beach County School District is already on a mission for next school year, doing everything it can to avoid being understaffed in the fall. The district is looking to hire everything from bus drivers to custodians, teachers, and even police officers.
On Wednesday, the district held its largest hiring event of the year at the South Florida fairgrounds where over 1,200 prospective employees came, hoping to fill one of the hundreds of open positions within the school district.
The turnout is something the district is excited about as it looks to fill hundreds of positions.
The district’s director of recruitment and retention, Elaine Gallagher says they have about 300 teaching positions they’re looking to fill.
“Teaching is our biggest workforce so we always need more teachers. We employ about 13,000 teachers and so that tends to be our biggest need and area of need,” said Gallagher.
And there were plenty of people looking to fill those roles, especially since it involves helping kids.
“I love how we are in their lives to help them grow and to help them become great adults in life one day. I love being a part of these kids’ lives and their journey,” said applicant Marley Angervil.
According to the district’s chief of human resources, Tim Kubrick, they’re looking for more than just teachers.
“We do have bus driver openings, we’ve got school food service, we’ve got police jobs, we’ve got paraprofessionals, food service, you name it, we might have it. So we have it. There are a lot of different opportunities for just about anybody looking for a career in Palm Beach County,” said Kubrick.
And as Kubrick mentioned, the district needs more bus drivers. According to Transportation staff, they are looking to hire about 80 drivers. They are even taking to the roads to advertise those openings on billboards throughout the county.
Applicant Marjoni Tripp says it’s a role she’s interested in, especially because of how helpful her sons’ bus drivers have been.
“The bus drivers that help us- they really care, they’re very empathetic and I was very worried about putting my autistic son on a school bus, but they reassured me that he would be safe,” said Tripp.
Kubrick says it’s essential the district get these positions hired.
“Our goal is to make sure that people are in place for the start of the school year so that when kids come to our classrooms they’ve got their teacher and support staff there, ready to greet them,” said Kubrick.
While Wednesday’s event was the largest hiring event the district puts on, they say they will have smaller ones leading up to and throughout the school year.
–Amber Raub, CBS12 News
Source: Palm Beach County schools puts on largest hiring event to fill essential roles