Just ahead of back to school day on Monday, Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) administration reported that the district’s teaching positions are 99.03% full.
In a district with 211 schools and 164,000 students, there still remain 139 full-time and 50 part-time teacher vacancies, according to April Key, Chief of Human Resources and Development, who spoke at Thursday’s board of education meeting.
Since the previous school year, 1,078 teachers have been hired. Of that number, 631 have teaching experience, and 447 are new to the profession.
The teaching staff is 50% White, 18% Black or African American, 17% Hispanic and 7% Asian.
Staffing of bus drivers is 100%, with 74 new drivers and 69 attendants hired this summer. The district intends to continue seeking new drivers at its Back to School event Saturday.
The new school year includes 1,200 bus routes for a total of 100,000 miles per day.
Still needed are paraeducators and security personnel.
According to Brian Hull, chief operating officer, the district is ready for the first day of school. Each school day will include the driving of 1,200 bus routes for a total of 100,000 miles. 90,000 meals will be served daily.
During the summer, much work was accomplished at individual buildings. Close to 500,000 square feet of new construction was undertaken, including the opening of Cabin Branch Elementary School in Clarksburg.
Replacement projects at Burnt Mills, Stonegate and South Lake elementary schools were completed. Work also was completed at Dr. Ronald E. McNair and William Tyler Page elementary schools and Parkland Middle School.
Site work was completed at Odessa Shannon Middle School.
Restrooms were renovated at 10 schools. Five were made inclusive. Six schools got new roofs, and equipment at four playgrounds were replaced. Another nine schools were modified for special education programs.
About 27 million square feet of building space was cleaned during the summer.
In the field of athletics, 25 certified athletic trainers now will be stationed in each high school with the goal of keeping student athletes safe. These are full year positions.
MCPS entered into a partnership with MedStar to further this goal, according to Jeffrey Sullivan, director of athletics.
The district plans to stress safety, eliminating confrontations and fighting at sporting events. Part of that campaign includes a public relations campaign by student athletes on the importance of staying safe.
Backpacks won’t be permitted by game attendees, Sullivan said.
“This is the most exciting time of year for us. It truly is,” declared Superintendent Dr. Monifa McKnight.
“We are all so excited,” added Board President Karla Silvestre. “It’s going to be a fantastic year.”
