COLUMBIA, S.C. — Two midlands school districts are looking to hire new teachers and staff for the upcoming school year. Richland Two and Lexington-Richland Five will host recruitment events this Saturday.
“At Richland Two, we’re purpose-driven to make sure our students are future-ready, so we’re looking for purpose-driven employees, we’re looking for great, fantastic purpose-driven teachers,” Gregory Turchetta said.
Turchetta is the senior chief communications officer at Richland Two
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, teacher vacancies are increasing throughout the county. As these numbers rise, school districts are increasing their recruitment efforts, and the Midlands are no different.
“Currently we need about 100. We’re 100 short for next school year which is on track to where we’ve been the last several years. but that effort starts now. this is our first job fair of 24,” Turchetta said.
According to the state’s Educator Supply and Demand report, South Carolina school districts reported a 9% increase in teacher vacancies compared to the previous year.
Richland Two and Lexington-Richland Five will hold recruitment events on Saturday to fill vacancies.
“We work really hard to recruit new teachers, teachers in general, into the district, and one of the biggest things that we’ve done is we’ve really focused on how do we provide incentives, but really how do we provide that love and support for our teachers,” said Reggie Wicker, the director of personnel in the office of human resources at Lexington-Richland District Five.
Both districts are prepared for on-site interviews and candidate offers on the day of the event.
“You can be a brand new teacher, a seasoned teacher, again come in. We look forward to having you this coming Saturday to be a part of our district recruitment event,” Wicker said.
The Richland Two recruitment event will be held at Richland Two Institute of Innovation, and all pre-registered candidates will begin interviewing at 10 a.m. Lexington-Richland Five will be held at Irmo Middle School from 8:30 a.m. to 11 a.m.