Roanoke City Schools looking at new ways to attract, retain teachers

ROANOKE (WSLS 10) - Roanoke City Schools hired its first teacher for the next school year in November and is looking to hire more.  Sandra Burks, Roanoke City School HR Executive Director says the school board will meet over the next couple of months to talk about creative ways to attract and retain teachers.

Some ideas being talked about:

  •      Paying some student loans for new teachers
  •      Help people from out of the area relocate
  •      Examine the bonus structure that's already been in place for the last few years, giving hard to recruit teachers in math, science and special education a bonus
  •      Turning to their own workforce

"Are there ways we can help support those who are not teachers who want to become teachers? Look at our teaching assistant staff, our instructional teaching assistant staff, folks that may already have a four year degree but haven't had the where with all to go forward," said Burks.

They also plan to look at different areas to recruit expanding outside of Virginia, North Carolina and West Virginia.

There are several job fairs coming up:

  • January 27: Western Virginia Public Education Consortium Job Fair. Pre-registration is required. Details are here.
  • February 18: Roanoke City Job Fair details are here. Pre-registration is required in order to attend.

About the Author:

You can see Jenna weekday mornings at the anchor desk on WSLS 10 Today from 5-7 a.m. She also leads our monthly Solutionaries Series, where we highlight the creative thinkers and doers working to make the world a better place.