Teacher, bus-driver shortages continue to vex Wake County Schools

CARY, N.C. (WTVD) -- Wake County Schools is working to tackle a long to-do list.

One of the items is finding a new superintendent to replace Catty Moore, who is retiring at the end of this school year.

Another meeting has been called Friday to resume the discussion on that search.

Another question is how to fill hundreds of open positions in the district including teachers, staffers and bus drivers.

Right now, there are 294 teacher vacancies in the district, which is about a 2.5% rate. The percentage of vacancies has even fallen year over year.

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There are also 171 instructional assistant vacancies and 285 bus driver openings.

School Board Chair Lindsay Mahaffey said she is most troubled by those bus driver vacancies.

She said they are offering sign-on bonuses. They're also paying for a driver's commercial license or CDL and the physical required to get that license.

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The district said it's had to get very creative to deal with driver shortages and it admits students are getting to school and home later than they should.

"We've had challenges in bus drivers for over a decade but in the last few years and with the pandemic, it's become exponential," said David Neter, chief business officer for Wake County Schools.

There are 38 scheduled visits to area colleges and universities that Wake County has planned upcoming as well.

"Wake County folks have looked at our local salary supplement to make it more attractive," said Mahaffey. "We also know the superintendent's budget is coming out in a few weeks. I imagine there will be a compensation piece to that. We want high-quality teachers and people caring for our students."