TOPEKA (KSNT) - Topeka Public Schools is still hiring for dozens support staff jobs, with less than a month before the students first day.
The district told 27 News that there are specific jobs they are having a hard time filling and these jobs come from outside the classroom
"One of the big needs that we still see is that we are in need of paraprofessionals, bus drivers, food service workers and custodians." General Director of Human Resources Jessica Williams said.
The school district is expected to have all of their classroom certified positions filled going in to the school year. They do still have a high number of other positions that are open.
"You know, we're roughly looking probably around 50 or 60 positions that are really crucial to fill before the school year. We hope to fill almost all of them before the school year." Williams said.
The district says it is important that these positions get filled to provide the best learning experience for the students.
"We really count on our staff members to be there for students, for example, for food service and custodian," Williams said. "It puts a lot of burden on the ones who are already here. We want to make sure that we're providing our students with clean schools, safe schools, healthy lunches and foods."
This is also the first school year where students can attend schools outside of the district that they live in. The district says they are seeing a slight increase in enrollment and if that continues they will need more staff members.
"If the class sizes increase, we'll have to increase staffing and adjust to match that enrollment because we do have class size ratios." General Director of Assessment and Demographics Aaron Kipp said.
The school district has done many recruiting fairs throughout the month of July to try and fill these jobs. There will be another one on Thursday, July 25 at Topeka High School. For more information on the available job's in the district and the upcoming recruiting fair click here.
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