HAZELWOOD, Mo. — Hazelwood School District officials hope their many advertising efforts will bring in lots of applicants for Saturday’s teacher recruitment fair.

Like other area school districts experiencing a teacher shortage, Hazelwood is looking to fill positions at the elementary, middle, and high school levels, such as math, science, social studies, English, electives, reading specialists, as well as counselors, librarians, administrators, and social workers.

“We saw during the pandemic an accelerated retirement rate and accelerated resignation rate,” said Keith Bausman, assistant superintendent of human resources. “In education, we’ve also seen a pattern of fewer graduates (in teaching) coming out each year.”

“So, right now, school districts are trying alternate methods for Grow Your Own, international recruitment, and so we’re employing a wide variety of options for our recruitment strategies in order to make sure we have all of our positions filled.”

The teacher recruitment fair will be held in the gym at Hazelwood West High School from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Applicants are asked to bring copies of resumes, credentials, and other professional documents.

Those who register beforehand can expect to participate in at least three interviews, depending on their credentials, and walk-ins may not be guaranteed three interviews, but at least one with the school, according to Director of Human Resources Dr. Evelyn Woods.

To help temporarily fill vacancies, Woods said the district is working with Kelly Education Staffing Services for substitutes.

The school district offers board-paid health insurance, an employee fee-based preschool program, generous leave, professional development opportunities, and employee assistance programs.

Bausman said he is looking forward to a big turnout on Saturday, and while pre-registration is preferred, he understands everyone has a busy schedule.

“We’re just hoping to get as many certificated, staff applicants as we can through the doors to see if we can find some good talent,” he said. “We want to bring in the best and we want to bring out the best.”  

Woods said there are not as many registered applicants yet compared to before the pandemic, a trend that is happening at other school district job fairs as well. She noted there was a decline in pre-registered applicants last year during an areawide recruitment fair.

“I’ve reached out to some of my colleagues who have had some fairs recently, and they have indicated that they too have seen a decline in pre-registration numbers,” Woods said.

“I also know that pre-pandemic, even though we had a lot of individuals pre-register, we had an equal amount of walk-ins that just walked in and didn’t register.”

Bausman mentioned that college graduates may have a better chance of getting a teaching job at Hazelwood School District.

“In Hazelwood, we have more openings than we do have applicants, so the applicants have a better chance of receiving an offer in a position from us,” he said.

“We want that message to come across to those university graduates or potential graduates coming up where they understand that they have a place, they can have a home here in Hazelwood.”

Woods noted that the district can help those who are not in education, but have Bachelor’s degrees, become certified teachers.

Hazelwood also has been experiencing a deficit in supportive staff, similar to other school districts.

Amid the shortage, Bausman said the district has advertised open positions more aggressively, such as having billboards off of I-270, signs on the sides of buses, announcements on the radio, newspaper ads, flyers, as well as social media.

A support staff recruitment fair for positions, including bus drivers, nurses, child nutrition workers, and more, will be held on June 8.

For more information on Saturday’s teacher recruitment fair, click here.