Carson City School District administration building.
Dan Sadler, Carson City School District associate superintendent of human resources, calls any kind of critical labor shortage a daily “moving target.”
Vacancies, such as its current need for bus drivers and special education paraprofessionals, are constantly in flux, and to reemploy retired public workers, it has to show a need to fill those positions, according to Nevada Revised Statute 286.523.
The Carson City School Board on June 13 designated critical labor shortages for bus drivers and special education paraprofessional positions.
Sadler said there were nine bus driver positions available as of Tuesday.
“We were able to hire three inexperienced drivers, and they’re getting their CLD (commercial driver’s license),” he said. “We do have 27 bus drivers, which gives us a 25% vacancy rate.”
For special education paraprofessionals, there were 18 open positions as of Tuesday with 77 currently employed, a 19% vacancy rate, he said.
Trustee Richard Varner asked how long a position can be designated as critical needs, which is a two-year designation. This can be renewed, Sadler said.
All positions in the district have been declared critical needs. In October 2022, CCSD was short 51 substitute teachers, one substitute nurse and four substitute custodians, and the board approved these roles for the designation.
Mathematics teachers positions will expire this September and it’s uncertain if they need to be reconsidered, he said, but all elementary and secondary teaching positions are covered as of this month.
The motion to approve the designation was approved by the board 7-0.