With Montana's ongoing teacher shortage, how is the Bozeman School District keeping up, and is it ready for this upcoming school year?
Pat Strauss, the director of human resources for the Bozeman School District, tells me that their open positions become available in April, and they try to fill them by July.
"Our number of applicants is down over the last five years," says Strauss.
He says they are still hiring.
"We are fortunate in Bozeman that we hired 53 new teachers and a large group of special ed teachers. Twelve new special ed teachers were added to the district, so that number we've never seen before, and we feel very fortunate to fill those spots in particular," Strauss says.
As of Aug. 1, theOffice of Public Instruction employment portal listed 853 active job postings for licensed public school positions in Montana.
Pat told me only two were open in Bozeman and were being processed.
He says the government website doesn't need to update filled positions automatically and that roughly 95% of their applicants apply directly through the Bozeman School District's website.
Most of those recent applicants, he says, are graduates from local colleges and universities.
"We are lucky to have that in-state pipeline because one of the challenges in Bozeman for any of the teachers or employees is housing," Strauss says.
One teacher I spoke to who wanted to remain anonymous shared with me that there has been an education crisis predominantly since the COVID-19 pandemic.
The teacher says the shortage is very much felt in Bozeman as educators fill in the missing gaps.
However, on the other hand, Strauss says, "We are fortunate in Bozeman. In the last few years, we have continued to recruit and retain teachers, so we are super happy with how we're getting ready to start off the school year."
He does say there is a need for custodians, food service, and paraprofessionals.
Anyone interested in a position with the school district can apply via this website.
