Providence Public Schools still need to fill 150 jobs before the school year

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — The Providence Public School System hosted a career fair Tuesday afternoon with hopes to hire staff members to fill 150 vacancies before the school year begins in just two weeks.

According to the school district, 93% of job openings across the entire district have been filled but they need to close the 7% gap.

Gina D’Addario, the Executive Director for Recruitment and Staffing for Providence Public Schools told ABC 6 News, “Our goal today and every day is to ensure that each of one of our 22,000 plus students has a high-quality educator in front of them on the first day of school and every day throughout the school year. So events like we are having at E Cubed High School are to ensure that we are making that commitment to Providence students today and everyday,” Addario explained.

In an effort to fully staff classrooms with educators in hard to fill areas, the school district hosted the hiring career event for the 2023-24 school year. Over 50 candidates signed up and incentives were offered to new hires.

“We crafted bonuses that would drive educators into the classroom, so that is where a lot of the $5,000 and the high-need bonuses came from. We are also really excited to have a partnership with the Providence Teachers Union for one year where we are able to extend learning time for students across the whole year and extend teacher’s salaries whether they are experienced or not,” D’Addario conitnued.