The Marlboro County School District hosted a job fair for several positions including teachers, teacher assistants, transportation, food services, and custodians on March 12.
The administrative staff at McColl Elementary Middle School interviewed a candidate during the job fair.
Marlboro County School District needs qualified people to help with educating students.
The district hosted a job fair for several positions including teachers, teacher assistants, transportation, food services, and custodians on March 12.
Dr. Jason Bryant, associate superintendent for human resources, curriculum, instruction, and assessment, said the recruitment fair went very well. At the event, all of district’s schools were represented along with the food service and transportation departments.
Each school or department had set up tables for potential employees to come and learn about them.
Interviews took place in the media center.
“We are actively recruiting every day through our website, social media, and also we are reaching out to colleges and universities to find any potential candidates,” he said.
Bryant noted the pandemic has made things more challenging.
According to data from the South Carolina Center for Educator Recruitment, Retention, and Advancement, the school year started off with 1,100 vacancies statewide. Since January, the number has increased by 900.
MCSD had several vacancies when the school year started that Bryant said were never filled.
Currently, there are 30-40 vacancies.
“We are not only hiring for current vacancies, but also for the 2022-23 school year. Bryant was pleased with the turnout and said there were local people, some from North Carolina, other areas, as well as some international teachers. For school districts, teacher recruitment is becoming year-round with word of mouth and a social media presence being crucial tools.
“We need good people,” he said. “Our students deserve the best so we try to get good people in every area, whether it be a bus driver, food service operator, a teacher, a teacher assistant. It doesn’t matter the job because all of those jobs are important.”
He added it takes everyone to educate students.
Geraldine Welch of Clio had heard about the job fair from her husband and wanted to apply for a cafeteria position.
She thought the event was set up very well.
“I’m impressed with how each table is set up and how you can go and kind of mingle to see what position you want,” Welch said.
And while the recruitment fair was on Saturday, if someone is still interested in a position, they can visit the district’s website at www.marlboro.k12.sc.us.