Hollister
– As the end of the school year draws closer, San Benito High
School have not yet hired enough teachers – especially in
mathematics and special education – for 2007-2008.
Hollister – As the end of the school year draws closer, San Benito High School have not yet hired enough teachers – especially in mathematics and special education – for 2007-2008.
Despite having already hired around 15 new teachers, SBHS administrators need to hire between eight and 10 more teachers before fall. If the school is unable to hire enough teachers, it will be forced to hire teachers who are not fully credentialed, or have only emergency credentialing.
The administration will discuss what it has done and is planning to do for recruitment at the school board meeting tonight.
San Benito High School Director of Human Resources Mike Potmesil said he is hoping to attract more fully credentialed candidates, meaning teachers who have received all of their necessary degrees and certification, for the positions by mid-July.
Besides recruiting throughout California, Potmesil said he has been sending staff to recruitment fairs in the Midwest.
“It’s a slower economy (in the Midwest) and there’s not as many teaching jobs,” Potmesil said. “They have some great teaching education programs, so they put out an abundance of teachers.”
He said it can be difficult to attract candidates from the Bay Area, where Hollister is sometimes viewed as being isolated from major metropolitan areas. Potmesil has spoken with several local Realtors about selling Hollister and hopes to work with the Chamber of Commerce in the future to attract more candidates to the community.
“We’re hoping to show the attraction of the area,” Potmesil said.
The school’s administrators are also hoping to get approval from the board to hire teachers with emergency credentials. If the school is unable to get enough teachers with full credentials it will need to hire teachers with emergency or short-term credentialing.
Potmesil said he is hoping to only have to hire between four and five teachers with emergency credentials, and the remainder of the teachers will be fully credentialed.
Currently, the high school is in need of two English teachers, three mathematics teachers and five special education teachers – although two of the math positions may soon be filled, Potmesil said.
San Benito High School, like high schools across the state, has had difficulty attracting both math and special education teachers.
Potmesil, who was hired three months ago, said he hopes to get an earlier start on the hiring process next year so recruitment will go more smoothly.
The high competition for math and special education teachers meant that by the time much of their recruitment had started, many of these teachers had already been hired by other districts, he said.
“It’s a dog-eat-dog world. If we see a good math teacher, we’ll knock each other down to get them,” Potmesil said.
Alice Joy covers education for the Free Lance. She can be reached at 831-637-5566 ext. 336 or at [email protected].
