More than half of Baltimore County Schools' teaching vacancies are for special education classroom teachers.
Chief Human Resources Officer Homer McCall II told the School Committee Tuesday night that as of the first day of the school year, the district had about 70 teaching vacancies, down from 126 earlier this month. He added that 123 schools, or 70 percent of the district, had no vacancies and no school had more than four vacancies.
According to McCall's presentation, the district still has more than 36 full-time openings for special education teachers and 10 openings for math teachers. At the start of last school year, the district had about 43 openings for special education teachers.
“Our biggest needs are in special education and math,” Human Resources Director Susan Stansberry told the board.
Central office staff and other non-teaching staff with special education qualifications are being given extra pay to fill vacancies, Stansbury said, adding that math teachers are being asked to take extra classes.
Earlier this month, the district had openings for 55 special education teachers and 18 special education para-teachers, according to board documents. Stansbury said he is also hiring for 16-hour-per-week contracts for special education positions.
More than 500 vacant positions, including 250 teaching positions, were cut from this year's operating budget, but the district has about 9,800 teachers.
Board member Tiffany LaShawn Frempong called on the district to hire a more diverse teaching staff, and Superintendent Miriam Rogers said she plans to release data on teacher demographics this fall.