Eagle County School District is getting creative to recruit teachers

Facing growing teacher shortages, the Eagle County School District is exploring innovative ways to expand its educator pool.

Maryann Stavney, the district’s learning and instruction specialist, presented to the school board on Wednesday, Sept. 24, on the Pathways in Education plan, which works to develop clear and sustainable pathways into education.

The goal of the program “is to create a locally grown Eagle County School District educator pool from current Eagle County students, staff and residents,” Stavney said. “We feel that those folks who live in our community and grew up in our community understand our values of being engaged learners, inspired professionals.”

Working with a teacher shortage

Fewer prospective teachers are seeking employment, which creates a challenge for the district’s hiring team as it looks for new teachers.

“Traditional recruitment is a challenging prospect,” Stavney said.

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When Stavney was hired by the district 30 years ago, she attended the job fair at the University of Northern Colorado.

“When I went to the job fair, it was packed, and it was in a big arena and you had to elbow your way up to get to the principal,” Stavney said.

The teaching recruitment scene has changed significantly over the last 30 years.

“Unfortunately, now, it’s 30 recruiters to one student teacher who is coming through. There is a real change,” Stavney said. “There is concern in our role about how we are able to keep people interested in teaching.”

Over the last two years, the district has seen a decrease in new hires. In the 2023-24 school year, the district hired 74 new teachers. This year, the district has hired just 35 new teachers.

Part of the decline in hiring is simply due to teachers staying with the district, leading to fewer openings.

“People tend to come into Eagle County, they get settled in, they stay here for a bit, and (hiring) will tend to drop,” Stavney said.

But some of the decline is tied to the challenge of recruiting teachers, given the hard work the job requires, Stavney said.

It could also be linked to low teacher pay. Colorado ranks 41st in the nation for average starting teacher salary at $42,000. While Eagle County’s starting salary outpaces that at $50,500, the higher cost of living in Eagle County compared to the rest of the state means that the salary may still look unappealing to prospective teachers compared to other professions.

District embraces creative recruitment strategies

There are a handful of ways to become a teacher.

The first is traditional teacher preparation programs, in which students can participate through Colorado Mountain College, Colorado Mesa University and other programs all over the state and beyond.

This year’s new teacher class has a higher proportion of first-time teachers compared to previous years.

To encourage current district students to pursue these programs, the Pathways in Education program works directly with high schoolers, providing them opportunities for internships and apprenticeships in education, including through Career X.

Like last year, this year’s new teacher class includes four Eagle County School District alumni who graduated from Eagle County schools and chose to return as teachers.

Next, the district offers an alternative licensure program to adults who have already earned graduate degrees. These individuals can be hired by the district, then trained in teaching-specific skills.

The district’s non-teacher employees, like guest teachers, permanent substitutes and others, can also be supported to become fully licensed teachers.

“Our goal is to maintain or increase the number of locally grown educators participating in our programs,” Stavney said.

Within this year’s new teacher class of 35, nine members come from the alternative licensure program.

“We’re constantly trying to coach up people who are already here and committed to our students,” Stavney said.

Three of this year’s new teachers are international hires, compared to 11 last year and 21 the year before.  

“With international hires, we do have visa issues, so that might change next year,” Stavney said. 

Finally, there is the Apprenticeship Colorado program based out of Colorado Mountain College, which is supported by the Colorado Department of Education. The program differs from student teaching programs in that apprentice teachers, who are monitored by mentor teachers, are registered with the state and paid as full-time employees of the school district while they earn their college degree.

The district currently has four individuals enrolled in Colorado Mountain College’s Apprenticeship Colorado program.