Right, Calvert County Board of Education President Tracy McGuire
Prince Frederick, MD – Calvert County Public Schools’ (CCPS) tradition of brisk teacher transitions is expected to continue into the next school year. That appears to be the subtext of a report presented Thursday, Jan. 8 to the Calvert County Board of Education (BOE). The Teacher Recruitment and Placement Report was presented to the board by CCPS Human Resources Director Dr. Victoria Karol and Human Resources Supervisor Laveeta Hutchins.
During March and April, CCPS officials will embark on a 16-stop teacher recruitment schedule. Thirteen of the stops on the itinerary are at historically African-American colleges and universities. That list includes Bowie State University, Howard University and Morgan State University. The most intense period of the schedule occurs from March 24 through 26 when seven institutes will be the focus of Calvert’s teacher recruiters. Additionally, the county will have representatives at the Pittsburgh Education Recruitment Consortium in Monroeville, PA.
There will also be a recruitment push within the county. School system officials have tentatively planned for a recruitment fair for Friday, April 24 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. “It’s something we hope to do on an annual basis,” Hutchins stated.
The proposed recruiting fair flier touts CCPS’ “Scale Two, Step One” annual salary for bachelor’s ($45,046) and master’s ($48,076) degree holders. It also highlights CCPS’ modern technology, quality professional development, teacher mentoring program, the system’s “safe and orderly schools” and the high rankings Maryland and Calvert have previously received.
Karol said later that CCPS has had similar fairs before but the aim of the April event will be to attract quality recruits who are serious about teaching in Calvert County.
Of CCPS’ 69 new teaching hires for the current school year, 36 had no prior experience. Twenty-one of the new hires have more than five years of experience and a dozen have between one to five years of experience. Master’s degrees have been earned by 27 of the new hires and two hold doctorate degrees.
Other data presented shows 84 percent of the 2014-2015 school year new hires are female and 93 percent are white. Forty-two percent of the new hires are CCPS graduates. Nineteen were hired for special education while fourteen of the new recruits were hired to teach at elementary schools.
Of the 72 teachers who left CCPS at the end of the 2013-2014 school year, 29 retired, eight left to teach in another state and 10 left to go teach in another Maryland county. The latter group raised some concern among BOE members.
Karol speculated that one reason is “they live somewhere else and couldn’t get a job there.” Board Member Kelly McConkey requested that school officials ask for a reason for leaving from teachers going to teach in other Maryland jurisdictions.
The school system has again offered a retirement incentive package to eligible employees. Back in December Superintendent of Schools Dr. Daniel Curry reported “about 50 people” had opted for retirement at the end of the current school year. It was not divulged how many of those are teachers.
McGuire new board president
Prior to the start of their Jan. 8 work session and meeting, the five BOE members elected officers. Tracy McGuire was chosen board president while Pamela Cousins was selected as board vice president. McGuire and Cousins were nominated in one motion and the vote was unanimous.
Contact Marty Madden at marty.madden@thebaynet.com