CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WCIA) — With less than one month before school starts – the Champaign School District still has 220 job openings to fill — and district officials are easing some concerns about staffing ahead of the school year.

District officials said personnel are actively recruiting and hiring qualified candidates. And as of Wednesday — 145 certified applicants are in the process of being hired. WCIA talked with board president Tony Bruno to gain some insight into the importance of filling these spots.

“Unit four, like many school districts in the state, is suffering from too many vacancies. And we’ve lost a lot of people over the last couple of years,” Bruno said.

Bruno said this issue will be a big focus as the board works to find their next full-time superintendent over the next year.

“Low staff levels is perhaps the biggest problem we face as a district right now, and whoever becomes our next superintendent is going to be expected to address this problem. It’s mission critical,” Bruno added.

There is also an emphasis on filling special education teacher positions. This comes on the advice of the recent special education audit earlier this month.

“It’s critical and we recently had a consultant tell us that we need to add 20 additional positions to our roster. And so I’m focused on getting that done,” Bruno said.

WCIA reached out to district spokesperson Stacey Moore for insight on the 220 job openings in the district. She said the current number of openings is “typical” for this time of year.

“Some of these positions (substitutes, tutors, interpreters, etc.) run constantly on our website. We consider all of the open positions critical to providing our students with exceptional educational opportunities,” Moore said.

Champaign schools invite people interesting in working to apply directly on the district website.
Bruno said a full time superintendent is expected to be named by next year.