The public schools that serve most of College Park’s children have filled teacher vacancies at a faster rate than the countywide average since the start of the school year in August.
Elementary, middle and high schools where most of College Park’s children attend did better than the 52% countywide reduction rate, signaling a broad staffing recovery across all three tiers of local schooling.
Elementary schools have seen the biggest gains. The five neighborhood elementary schools that serve most of College Park’s children have cut their teacher vacancies by 69% since August, compared with 48% countywide, according to the Prince George’s County Public Schools Priority & School Staffing Vacancy Dashboard.
The five elementary schools—Hollywood and Paint Branch elementary schools in College Park; Cherokee Lane Elementary in Adelphi; Berwyn Heights Elementary; and University Park Elementary—reduced their combined vacancies from 13 teachers to four.
The shift is part of a six-month countywide effort to rebuild the school district’s talent pipeline through aggressive signing bonuses, a new “fast-track” hiring model and a state law that raised starting teacher salaries to more than $60,000.
“We have cut vacancies in half in just one year, which shows how quickly we can move when systems are aligned and people are supported,” Interim Superintendent Shawn Joseph said in a press release. “We are strengthening our workforce, improving how we recruit and raising the bar for how we bring talent into PGCPS.”
Teacher vacancies at Hollywood Elementary dropped to one-half of a position from 3.5 at the beginning of the school year, according to the dashboard. Paint Branch Elementary slashed its vacancies from 2.5 to one; Cherokee Lane Elementary dropped from five to two; and Berwyn Heights reduced open positions from two to one-half. University Park Elementary did not report any vacancies at the beginning of the school year and remains fully staffed, according to the dashboard.
The high schools that most College Park teens attend also reduced their teacher vacancies since the beginning of the school year. Combined, High Point, Parkdale, Northwestern and Eleanor Roosevelt high schools trimmed their 36 vacancies in August to 15.5 in January, for a nearly 57% reduction, compared with 54% for high schools countywide.
Middle schools serving most of the city’s students whittled their vacancies from 15 to 5.5 since August, for a 63% combined reduction in vacancies at Buck Lodge (Adelphi), Greenbelt, Hyattsville and William Wirt (Riverdale Park) middle schools. That compares with 55% for public middle schools countywide, according to the dashboard.
While not included among the neighborhood schools, College Park Academy—the city’s public charter school—also saw improvements. The school, which serves grades 6 through 12, filled a middle school math vacancy in November, leaving one high school STEM position open as of mid-January, according to PGCPS.
In a PGCPS press release, Prince George’s County Executive Aisha Braveboy noted that fuller teacher rosters mean “our young people are reaping the benefits, including stability in the classroom.”
The county is calling the combined 52% reduction in vacancies across all school levels “historic.” PGCPS cut its total teacher vacancies from 900.5 full-time equivalent positions to 434 since August.
In addition, vacancies for special education teachers and bus drivers have fallen, according to PGCPS.
Vacancy figures are based on an analysis of the PGCPS Priority & School Staffing Vacancy Dashboard as of Jan. 15. Percentages represent the reduction in teacher full-time equivalent (FTE) positions at neighborhood public schools serving College Park.