ST. LOUIS — As the teacher and support staff shortages continue in the St. Louis region, school districts are offering incentives and competitive salaries to help fill hundreds of positions for the upcoming 2023-24 academic year.

What You Need To Know

  • St. Louis Public Schools (SLPS) may have the largest number of openings at 409 ahead of the new school year

  • SLPS is offering incentives to experienced educators looking to advance their degree where they can receive up to $30,000 in assistance from SLPS to achieve that goal 

  • Mehlville School District had one certified position opening, 12 custodian vacancies and 10 bus driver open positions

  • Thanks to the passage of Prop E, Mehlville has raised wages for transportation, custodian and food service staff, which will with recruitment and retention

St. Louis Public Schools (SLPS) may have the largest number of openings. At the beginning of August, the district had 409 openings ahead of the new school year. There are 219 teacher vacancies, 185 non-teaching vacancies, and five administrative vacancies districtwide, according to George Sells, director of communications and marketing.

Last academic year, SLPS temporarily suspended bus service to eight of its schools due to the bus driver shortage. The district uses Missouri Central Bus company for transportation.

To help fill the 409 positions, Sells said the district’s human resources department has an ongoing recruiting team and a marketing campaign underway that includes traditional and digital media outlets. Additionally, SLPS was recently part of a career fair in conjunction with the Urban League during the district’s back-to-school expo.

The district also is offering incentives to experienced educators looking to advance their degree where they can receive up to $30,000 in assistance from SLPS to achieve that goal.

Sells said that the district “offers some of the highest pay in the region” for new teachers right out of college at $46,000, as well as offer relocation assistance for teachers looking to move to St. Louis.

“Even with all that, it's a very competitive market, with nearly every school system in the country seeing a rise in open positions and a challenge in filling them,” he said.

Mehlville School District has been able to offer more competitive salaries this year thanks to the recent passage of Prop E. The district had one certified position opening, 12 custodian vacancies and 10 bus driver open positions as of Aug. 8, according to Superintendent Jeff Haug.

“We’re actually 100% staffed at the classroom level, so we’ll be able to open day one without any supervision issues or concerns,” he said. 

While there are bus driver vacancies, there are enough drivers to cover the routes, according to Haug. Thanks to the passage of Prop E, the district has raised wages for transportation, custodian and food service staff, which will help with recruitment and retention, he said.

Prop E also helped increase starting pay for teachers from $41,000 to $46,000, which puts the district on the higher end of starting salaries in St. Louis County, according to Haug. 

He noted that the district is fully staffed in food service. 

Openings by the numbers

Earlier this month, Rockwood School District had 225 supportive staff vacancies, including bus drivers, child nutrition staff, custodians and Adventure Club employees, in addition to two teacher openings, according to Mary LaPak, chief communications officer.

While the district is in “great shape” regarding certified staff, “our challenge continues to be in our support staff areas,” she said.

During this time last year, Rockwood School District had 131 support staff openings. In 2021, the district expanded the no transportation zones to students who live within one mile in most areas, and last school year, two bus routes were eliminated and other routes were combined or rerouted.

Fox C-6 and Parkway school districts also implemented similar transportation policies.

Rockwood is offering employee incentives, advertising, and attending job fairs to help fill positions.

Francis Howell School District had 130 supportive staff vacancies and 11 teacher openings districtwide as of the beginning of August, according to Jennifer Jolls, chief communications officer. She said the district employs a total of 2,400 people.

“Like all districts, we continue to have vacancies in support staff roles such as custodians, paraprofessionals, and bus drivers,” she said.

As of early August, Fort Zumwalt School District had 73 support staff openings, including custodians, paraprofessionals, and bus drivers, as well as some teacher vacancies, according to Laura Wagner, director of communications.

She said support staff positions offer paid-time-off, employer-paid health, dental and vision insurance.

The district held a back-to-school “Interview Blitz” Saturday, Aug. 5, for all positions. 

Parkway School District had nine certified teacher openings and 55 noncertified/supportive staff vacancies, according to the district's website.

Affton School District had about 14 support staff openings and no teacher vacancies earlier this month, according to Erica Chandler, director of communications.

Maplewood-Richmond Heights School District has “stabilized on the hiring front,” but needs before and after care workers for its fee-based programs, according to Ed Rich, director of communications.

For the second year in a row, he said the district will continue to partner with the YMCA to offer those services.