LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — The new school year starts later this month, but the Clark County School District still has over 1,000 teacher positions to fill.
According to a district spokesperson, the district, as of Thursday, had 1,065 vacancies. While that number might seem high, it's actually on a positive trajectory.
Two years ago, CCSD had 1,367 unfilled teacher positions, which means it has been making progress.
"We're going to continue to push to fill as many as we can as quickly as we can," says Jason Ginoza, a human resources officer for the district. "We'll continue that effort through the school year."
District officials point to CCSD having 94% of its teacher positions now filled. That's because the massive school district — the fifth-largest in the country — has close to 17,000 teaching jobs.
"I think we're doing better than in previous years," says John Arias, a teacher at Mountain View Elementary School and father of Joyanna Arias, who is a soon-to-be sixth grader at KO Knudson in Las Vegas. "We're improving a little bit, little by little."
In addition to more teachers, district schools are also in need of more crossing guards, though the guards are actually hired by local municipalities.
This school year, crossing guards will be stationed near middle schools, a first for CCSD. As of this week, an official with the company that hires crossing guards says close to 250 more are needed.
So, while there's work to be done for the district, Joyanna Arias is certainly ready for school. In fact, she can't wait. Watch her reasons why:
"I'm so excited," she told us. "I get to do violin and it's going to be really fun to meet all my teachers. I just want to make friends and have fun."
For more information about how to apply to be a crossing guard, click here. For more information on CCSD teacher positions, click here.
