OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. – Nearly two weeks into the school year, schools across Central Florida are still working to fill hundreds of vacancies. While districts have been facing shortages in classroom personnel, hiring delays are leaving some prospective employees in limbo.
Brianna Bond applied to become a substitute teacher for the Osceola County school district in July. Weeks later, she said she is still waiting on her background check to be complete.
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“It’s been almost four weeks now and still no update on my background check and fingerprints. So I’ve been reaching out consistently and still no luck,” Bond said. “You see on the news all the time that they need teachers, substitutes. We’re in dire need, and here I am, still waiting.”
Bond took her frustration online, which is where she posted in a Facebook group. Her post received dozens of comments with the same problem: delays in the onboarding process with Kelly Services, the company partnered with the district to handle the hiring process.
Some people claimed their onboarding has taken months.
“Can you imagine not having a job or if that was your only source of income since April, and it’s August, and they’re still waiting to process and get everything finished?” Bond asked. “It’s mind-blowing.”
Vice chair of the school board, Julius Melendez, said he’s frustrated, too.
“I just got word from the superintendent that we no longer have staff internally that are going to be hiring the substitutes. We are going to be outsourcing completely to Kelly,” Melendez said.
Melendez said the school board approved a contract with Kelly Services this year in the hopes of casting a wider net to fill open positions. When News 6 reached out to Kelly Services directly, the company replied with the following statement, acknowledging delays in the screening process.
The need for substitute teachers is urgent, as Osceola County has about 100 classroom teacher vacancies.
“We need over 100 substitutes, and at this point, we need almost permanent substitutes until we can fill those positions,” Melendez said.
The district is having instructional coaches and district resource teachers fill vacancies until permanent educators can be found.
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