ST. LOUIS — School districts across the St. Louis area are struggling to fill open staff positions.
It's every job, from teachers to bus drivers to custodians, and it's not unique to just one school district.
George Sells with Saint Louis Public Schools said it's a year-round search.
"School is never out when it comes to our H.R. department and having to get out there and find teachers. There's been a teacher shortage going on for a number of years, and the exclamation point was kind of put on it by the pandemic," he said.
Summer may be in full swing, but recruitment is a full-time job for districts across the St. Louis area.
That includes Transportation Director Will Rosa with Parkway School District as he searches for people to get behind the wheel.
"It feels like we're always looking for drivers. People are retiring and the last few years have been particularly worse through COVID because we had more people retire. Then, last year was a little bit better and then this year we're a little bit better," he said.
It's a battle many other departments and districts are facing.
Orlando Lewis Jr., Parkway School District's custodial supervisor, said the pandemic exaggerated the shortages.
"It's pretty significant. We've been short for several years now with the custodian's department, and it makes us really inefficient when we don't have the manpower to do and live up to the standard by which Parkway expects from our custodial department," he said.
It's a problem that Stacy Neely, Rockwood School District HR coordinator, said is the worst she's ever seen.
"I've been in HR for over 30 years, and I've never seen anything remotely like this," she said.
That's why schools are having to get creative.
The Riverview Gardens School District plans to bring in international teachers this fall.
According to Sells, Saint Louis Public Schools has to fill 279 open teaching positions.
"Everybody's fighting the same battle. It's been going on for some time now, and it's a difficult time to find teachers and we're doing everything we can to get them out here and get them into classrooms," he said.
That's why SLPS gave everybody an 8% pay raise last year, raised the starting salaries for teachers coming and is offering full college tuition for substitutes who want to become teachers, according to Sells.
"For a teacher that comes in here and wants to advance his or her degree, maybe get that master's, get that doctorate. We're offering up to $30,000 in tuition reimbursement for those folks," he said.
Just 20 miles down the road on Highway 141, it's hard to miss the bus driver ad for Parkway School District.
According to Rosa, they have about 10 positions they need to fill.
"We're doing a survey right now and it feels like there's going to be a few more kids riding. We're doing a lot of our own field trips and athletic trips than we've ever done in the past, which is increased our need for drivers also. We just want to make sure we have enough drivers so it's just a safe and enjoyable ride for the kids," he said.
The district is not only short bus drivers but has about 50 open custodian positions too.
Lewis Jr. said that's why Parkway had to bring in a contract company to alleviate some of the stress.
"The school systems, I like to say, that it's like the train is rolling on a track, but we don't have enough workers to get keep filling the track. It puts a lot of strain on our custodial department to just keep up with the demands of activities that are going on in the buildings," he said.
Parkway will start paying custodians $15 an hour starting in July, according to Lewis Jr.
Their neighbors in the Rockwood School District are dealing with the same thing.
According to Neely, most departments have openings but specifically the district has 70 custodial and 70 child nutrition spots open.
"We do have holes in our certified side, too. I can tell you, we used to post an elementary teacher, or a building administrator position we could get 200 to 500 applicants. Now, this year we were lucky to get 35," she said.
While they continue to market and incentivize, Neely said, it's all hands-on deck.
"Everybody is doing everything. We decided last year that we really need to focus on retention more than recruitment because we need to keep our people," she said.
You can apply to Parkway School District positions here.
You can apply to Saint Louis Public Schools here.
You can apply to Rockwood School District positions here.