By Anton Riecher
With the new school year rapidly closing in area school districts are pushing hard to fill remaining open teaching and staff positions before student fill the hallways.
At Devine ISD 13 teaching or combination teaching and athletic positions are posted on the district website. At the elementary level, positions are open for two special education aides and one school instructional aide.
To qualify for these positions, the applicant must meet Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) “High Qualified” requirements equaling 48 college hours or two years, or attend the Teacher Orientation and Preparation Program (TOPP), a State Board of Educator Certification approved alternative route to teacher certification by means of the ESC-20 Educator Preparation Certifications Program.
Applicants must have knowledge of basic computer operations and skills, ability to operate personal computer and educational software and ability to work with students and teachers using effective organizational skills, the website states.
At the intermediate level, openings exist for school teacher and school special education teacher for grade three through five.
The school teacher posting requires an early childhood-grade 4 (EC-4) generalist or a grade 6 (EC-6) graduate initial teaching certification specialization. The master’s degree in early childhood education is a 36-hour program, designed to provide students with as background and advanced study in early childhood education.
Applicants must have a bachelor’s degree with a valid Texas teaching certificate. The applicant must also have knowledge of curriculum and instruction, ability to instruct students and maintain highly structured and orderly teaching environment and strong skills in organization, communication and interpersonal skills.
Like the school teacher position, the special education teacher position requires an early childhood-grade 4 (EC-4) generalist or a grade 6 (EC-6) graduate initial teaching certification specialization. It also requires a special education EC-12 certification.
Aside from the standard abilities required for other positions, the job requires knowledge of special needs students, ability to develop an individualized education program (IEP) through the admission, review and dismissal (ARD) committee, the team that determines eligibility based on a full and individual evaluation.
Crisis Prevention Institute (CPI) training is preferred. CPI training specializes in the safe management of disruptive and assaultive behavior.
At the high school level, Devine ISD is searching for a secondary science teacher for grades 6-12 and a high school career and technology teachers/boy’s athletic coach for grades 9-12. The district is also looking for an athletic trainer with a valid license from the Texas Advisory Board of Athletic Trainers and a current adult cardiopulmonary automated external defibrillator (AED) certification.
Also posted on the district website are openings for a part-time athletic department secretary, special education aide, a speech language pathologist or a speech language pathologist/speech language pathology assistant.
The website also lists openings for substitute nurses, bus drivers, custodians and cafeteria workers.
At Natalia ISD the only remaining academic openings are for a speech language pathologist and a speech dyslexia intervention teacher. At the staff level, the district has openings for two bus drivers, multiple custodians and a cafeteria worker.
In Lytle, academic openings remain for a junior high art teacher, a district wide substitute teacher, a high school plumbing teacher and a special education teacher at the elementary and junior high levels. The district is also for a certified professional teacher on the district wide level.
“This application is not designated for a particular job opening,” the district website states. “This application is put into a pool of applicants that are certified teachers. When job openings are posted, applicants will be notified automatically by email and will have to apply for the job they qualify for.”
The district also has staff openings for the child nutrition staff and custodians and custodian substitutes.
