Lee County schools holding 2 hiring events Thursday

The School District of Lee County, in order to bring in as many new employees as possible before the school year starts on Aug. 10, is hosting two hiring events on Thursday.

Lee County schools still need to fill more than 200 teaching positions, and officials hope Thursday’s events will help. The first hiring event begins at 9 a.m. at the Lee County Public Education Center, located at 301 Leonard Blvd. N. The second begins at 5:30 p.m. at University Grill, located at 7790 Cypress Lake Drive.

The first event is only for those interested in working in the district’s Food and Nutrition Services departments. Computers will be available on-site for people to fill out applications.
People may even get the chance to have on-the-spot interviews and get hired right then and there.

The second event will be for any position, from teachers and bus drivers to paraprofessionals. Suzette Rivera, assistant director for LCSD’s recruitment department, tells WINK News she’s glad the district is working to fill these, but district officials are prepared for the new school year either way.

“Some schools have staff that already have teaching certificates, but they are pulled to different assignments within the buildings and they’ll be able to help provide some coverage,” Rivera said. “They also rely heavily on our guest teachers. So, a guest teacher is what we formerly used to call a ‘substitute teacher,’ and they will be the person to step in and fill that need until a certified teacher is hired into that classroom.”

District officials say those who are interested should bring their resumes and be interview-ready. They added that they are confident they will get most of the positions filled in time.

“Feels very promising that our district is willing to try anything to get the word out to the community,” Rivera said. “And we’ve had such great support, like our partners at University Grill and some of these other businesses that are willing to bring us on and help spread the word that we have classroom positions we need to fill in, school bus positions we need to fill, so it’s… it’s very hopeful.”

LCSD spokesman Rob Spicker provided WINK News with information on how much some positions will be getting paid in the district:

• Bus drivers’ starting pay is $17.50 an hour (within the top five for public school districts in Florida)
• Teachers’ starting pay is $47,500 a year
• Workers in Food and Nutrition Services start at $12.99 an hour. By law, that will have to rise to $15 an hour this fall. Managers start at $16.64 an hour