Knox County Schools says “cultural shift” in hiring reduced teacher vacancies to near-zero

From left to right: new teachers Olivia Craig, Lindsay Duvall, Sarah Collins (Photo by Knox County Schools)

Knox County Schools says the district has reduced teacher vacancies to near-zero levels through a “cultural shift” in the hiring process that simplifies the process for potential candidates.

In a district blog, KCS says only a handful of full-time teaching positions were open at the start of the school year.

“The most meaningful changes were made by thinking about how we can remove barriers for interested teachers to apply, and then how we could be more responsive to candidates and principal’s needs,” said KCS Talent Acquisition Executive Director Alex Moseman.

Belle Morris Elementary fourth-grade teacher Olivia Craig was among the beneficiaries of the changes.

She said the new developments made it easier for her to get a job with KCS than any other hiring experience.

“It was really seamless and easy,” said Craig. “Someone reached out to me after I submitted my application and walked me through the whole process.”

Among the tools the district is utilizing to streamline the application process is the Teach Knox interest form that directly connects respondents to the correct district staff.

The district additionally implemented recorded interviews to help expedite the hiring process and remove barriers to traditional interview practices.

“You can buy a home from your phone nowadays. You should be able to get a job at Knox County Schools from your phone,” Moseman said. “Life can get busy, so for the people that need some flexibility in their schedule to get a job with us, we’ve built systems to account for the fact that they don’t need to be in a specific place and time to interview with us.”

The district additionally worked to make the hiring process itself more visible and accountable for principals. As part of that work, the Talent Acquisition team shared a scoreboard every week with principals and gave “shout-outs” to schools that were 100% staffed.

District leaders believe this transparency and recognition of progress motivated schools to strive for full staffing and created a district-wide push towards the goal.

“We had to put ourselves in the mindset that we’re competing with everybody for great talent,” Moseman said. “We’re not just competing with other school districts, but also other organizations throughout the region. And with high competition, speed and efficiency is going to be the key component to being successful.”