St. Mary’s Schools Expect Fully Staffed Classrooms For First Time Since Before Pandemic

LEONARDTOWN, Md. — St. Mary’s County Public Schools (SMCPS) is expected to begin the 2026-27 school year with every classroom appropriately staffed, a milestone the district has not reached since before the COVID-19 pandemic, Superintendent Scott Smith told the Board of Education during its Aug. 19 meeting.

“If all things hold true, every single classroom will be fully staffed appropriately at the very beginning of the school year,” Smith said.

The district welcomed 87 new hires during new teacher orientation earlier this month. Four additional teacher appointments were included on the board’s Aug. 19 agenda, bringing that group above 90.

Smith said SMCPS hired 24 teachers beginning in January and expects to have more than 110 new teachers joining the district by the end of the year.

Amongst the incoming teachers, 28 employees were promoted into teaching positions from other roles within the district. Smith said those employees included former teacher apprentices, paraeducators and safety assistants.

“They made for themselves a goal to become a classroom teacher,” Smith said. “That goal is being realized and will come to fruition on Wednesday of next week when they welcome their classroom.”

Smith also said 23 incoming teachers are graduates of St. Mary’s County Public Schools.

“They are products of our system,” Smith said. “They have gone off to college. They have gotten their licensure, degree and all, and have come back here to pay it back.”

Specialized And Support Positions Remain Open

Although Smith said regular classrooms are expected to be staffed when students return, SMCPS continues to recruit for specialized instructional, student support and operational positions.

A district presentation listed 18 vacancies among certificated professionals as of the Aug. 19 meeting. Those included four elementary instructional resource teachers, three occupational therapists, three school psychologists, two school counselors and two special education positions.

The district listed vacancies for one behavior specialist, one teacher for students who are deaf or hard of hearing, one media specialist and one speech-language pathologist.

Smith said those four instructional resource teacher positions should be filled through internal promotions, which could create additional elementary classroom vacancies as current teachers move into those roles.

The district also reported 59 vacancies among educational support professionals. Food services accounted for 23 of those openings, followed by nine in building services, eight special education paraeducators, five safety and security positions and four prekindergarten and instructional paraeducators.

Other support vacancies included three transportation positions, two information technology positions as well as one opening each for a teacher apprentice, career adviser, interpreter, media clerk and secretarial employee. Two vacancies for administrative positions also remained listed.

“There are some opportunities, but they’re going fast,” Smith said.

Current postings on the SMCPS employment portal include positions at individual schools as well as districtwide and open-until-filled vacancies.

Building A Pathway Into the Classroom

Smith said the district’s education support positions were one route for employees interested in eventually becoming teachers. He said some of the 28 employees moving into teaching positions this year began their careers with SMCPS in support roles before pursuing classroom credentials.

Smith said the district is also developing a grant-supported pathway that could help some employees complete the education necessary to become classroom teachers.

“We may have the ability to put you in the grant, and you can become a classroom teacher with us, covering all of the costs,” Smith said.

The district expects to present additional information about the program to the Board of Education in September after administrative details are finalized.

Students are scheduled to return to school Aug. 26.

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