Despite higher salaries, Manatee school district struggles to fill vacancies

A lot has changed over the past year, but staff vacancies remain a constant struggle for the School District of Manatee County.

In an attempt to compare the current number of openings with last year’s vacancies, the Bradenton Herald reached out to Sarah Brown, the district’s chief human resource officer. In an email sent to Brown and district spokesman Mike Barber on Monday, a reporter asked for the number of vacant positions among teachers, paraprofessionals and support staff, along with the same data from exactly one year ago.

They responded on Thursday with vacancy data from Wednesday, and incomplete data from Aug. 18, 2017.

“We do not have access right now to pulling the data,” Brown said in an email, explaining the missing numbers from last year.

On Wednesday, the district had 159 openings: 64 for teachers, 55 for paraprofessionals and 40 for support staff.

In August of last year, it had 77 teacher vacancies.

Records from past school board meetings offer another glimpse at past and present vacancies. On July 25, 2017, the district had at least 150 vacancies.

On July 24 of this year, the district had more than 175 openings between teachers, aides, bus drivers, custodians and cafeteria workers — about two dozen more than last year.

Voters approved a one-mill increase on property taxes in March, a good-faith gesture to help the district increase its pay and improve its science, technology, engineering and mathematics programs. The district soon touted competitive salaries to prospective employees.

Billboards in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties read, “Teach with us in Manatee: Highest starting teacher salary in the Tampa Bay area.”

But several factors dulled Manatee’s competitive edge. Hiring headaches started with the massive roll-out of a new business management system, known as enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, which launched right before the start of a new school year. Software bugs and a lack of employee training have slowed business operations.

The district later realized its human resources department failed to advertise many vacant positions, despite having the benefit of increased salaries and budgeted positions.

Furthermore, schools and other organizations — restaurants, construction services, transportation companies and health care businesses, for example — are facing staff shortages across the nation.

The number of vacancies, however, would be far higher if the tax referendum and competitive salaries were never introduced, said Pat Barber, president of the Manatee Education Association.

“I think if we looked around the state of Florida, we would find the same thing we’re finding in Manatee County,” she said.

Barber hopes the tax hike approved by voter will make a visible impact next year, before it expires and faces a renewal vote in 2022.

Her concern is shared by fellow volunteers on the Citizens’ Financial Advisory Committee, which was formed to monitor the collection and disbursement of referendum money. Committee Chairman Robert Christopher, speaking at a past meeting, said it would be a “catastrophe” if the millage weren’t reapproved.

The group recently formed subcommittees, including one for data analysis. The members decided earlier this month to prioritize data on employee retention and staff vacancies.

School board Chairman Scott Hopes attended the meeting. Along with the failure to advertise job openings, he pointed to the district’s hiring practices.

“All currently employed teachers who apply for a posted vacancy shall have their file reviewed prior to considering any new applicant for the vacancy,” according to a contract between the district and teachers union. “Currently employed teachers will be given strong preference for a vacancy for which they are certified.”

The district’s chief financial officer also attended last week’s subcommittee meeting. The group’s chairman, Robert Stanell, asked her how quickly vacant jobs would be advertised.

“They’re working on it,” said Heather Jenkins, the district’s CFO.

This story was originally published September 21, 2018 at 8:14 AM.