CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – During the 2021-22 year, the Clarksville-Montgomery County School System had one of its lowest retention rates for certified and classified employees. However, the rate is on track to return to pre-COVID levels.
The School Board was given a presentation recently on employee recruitment and retention data from this school year against years past.
National teacher shortage
As recently as 2017, the percentage of Americans “who would not want their children to become a public school teacher” overtook the percentage who would want this. According to polling from the National Education Association, only 38% of parents support this career, while 62% oppose it.
Since March 2020, the gap between available job openings and actual job hires has continued to widen. Nationally, there were roughly 100,000 more job opening than hires this year.
CMCSS hiring results
Director of Employment Erica Christmas said Tuesday that CMCSS hired 386 teachers (down from 468 by this time last year), but only had 67 separations (down from 77 this time last year). This shows a decrease in teacher hiring, but an increase in the teacher retention rate.
According to previous reports, the main reasons for separations last year were (from most to least) moving, retirement, changing careers, family issues, and teaching in another Tennessee district. This year, the top two reasons were moving and “job advancement or better pay.”
“One reason there are so few teachers is that there are so many opportunities for other careers that people don’t think a lot about teaching,” Christmas said. “The salary of the teachers isn’t as high as in the tech field.” She said there are many people who still love teaching or are coming back to teaching as a second career, and that those are the people they’re targeting with their advertising efforts. She added that they will continue to make sure their pay is competitive not just in education but in other positions as well.
On the plus side, Montgomery County has increased the number of teaching permits it issued this year, with 212 teaching permits out of the 5,061 permits released statewide. That is 4% of all state permits from a single county.
Certified recruitment and advising
CMCSS has determined that the major roadblocks to licensure are cost, time, acclimation to the classroom, and Praxis testing requirements.
CMCSS is providing several programs to increase teacher recruitment. For those seeking to obtain a teaching license online, CMCSS will be offering up to $3,000 in tuition reimbursement for job embedded programs like iTeach. They will also offer Praxis testing reimbursement for hard-to-fill areas, job-embedded mentors, principal training, “Road to Licensure” information sessions, Praxis preparation support (in person and online), and differentiated onboarding for alternative pathway teachers.
They will continue their advertising practices through the CMCSS website, billboards, Google ads, social media, recruitment fliers, District Family Newsletter emails, media releases, radio, print journals, and the minority recruitment team. They will also be using geofencing or using targeted ads dependent on one’s location. “If students at APSU attend a job fair and check their social media, they’ll automatically get one of our ads,” Christmas said.
CMCSS recruiters will continue to attend and host job fairs and have found continued success in their Alternative Pathways monthly information sessions.
Classified position retention rebounds
Classified positions with the school system consist mostly of support staff, such as administrative assistants, bookkeepers, custodians and food service assistants. During the 2021-22 school year, classified retention rates dropped from 81% to 79%. In the past two school years, that number has increased to 80%.
CMCSS brought in 725 hires and rehires last year, and by the end of the school year 495 separated. This means there were fewer hires but also fewer separations relative to those hires.
Minority certified hires
During the 2023-24 school year, there were 134 minority certified hires equating to 25.8% of all hires. During the 2024-25 school year, there were 109 minority certified hires equating to 28.2% of all hires. So even though the total number of minority hires decreased, they made up a larger percentage of all hires than last year.
This marks a 1% district-wide increase in minority certified hires. School Board member Jimmie Garland said, “Students need to see administrators and teachers who look like them.”
During the 2023-24 school year, 50 first-year minority teachers participated in the Diversity Mentorship program. Out of the 50 participants, 43 of the minority hires were retained for the 2024-25 school year.
Currently, there are 29 minority new hires participating in the Diversity Mentorship program for the 2024-25 school year.
To learn more about working for the school system, visit the CMCSS Employment site.
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