Amid Staff Shortage Princeton Schools Is Looking To Fill Vacancies

PRINCETON, NJ — Several school districts in New Jersey are still faced with teaching staff shortages. Despite several bills introduced by the state to curb the issue, the national problem persists.

Princeton Public Schools will be hosting a job fair on Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the district office building on 25 Valley Road.

Attendees do not need an appointment to participate in the job fair.

Here are the job openings currently available:

• Elementary Teacher – Leave Replacement
• Adaptive Physical Education Teacher
• Special Education Teacher – Leave Replacement
• Special Education Teacher (Self-Contained MD Class) - Leave Replacement
• Special Education Teacher – Tenure Track
• Preschool Teachers At Partner Schools
• Anticipated Preschool Disabilities Teacher
• Chemistry Teacher – High School
• Special Education Teacher (Math) - Leave Replacement for High School
• Special Education Teacher (Math) - Middle School
• English Teacher - Leave Replacement for Middle School
• Anticipated Occupational Therapist
• Technology Support Associates
• Substitutes: Teachers, Nurses, Building Monitors, Custodians

During its first State of the District event held this year, Superintendent Carol Kelley acknowledged the shortage of staff and highlighted the school district’s efforts at retaining more teachers.

“Like many industries, we are seeing that there are a lot of staff members who are deciding to go to other professions,” Kelley said. “Princeton Public Schools is a fantastic place to work if you would love to substitute or guest teach with us.”

In the 2021-2022 school year, PPS hired a total of 25 new employees with a teacher retention rate of 80 percent, according to data shared by the district.

“We are trying to ensure that we are diversifying our staff,” Kelley said. “We do have some work to do there in terms of looking at the percentage of our students who we are educating with the percentage of our staff members that have similar demographic backgrounds.”

In New Jersey, Gov. Phil Murphy launched a task force to find solutions to this problem. The group released its report earlier this year.

Recommendations include funding and supporting early career mentoring, creating leader-to-educator and peer-to-peer support systems; supporting work-life-balance; improving work conditions and more. You can find the whole report here.

Have a correction or news tip? Email sarah.salvadore@patch.com