LAWRENCE: Last-minute retirements keep school staff busy

By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
A surge of last-minute retirements, resignations and leave replacements might leave some school districts’ administrators in a panic, but not Rebecca Gold, the director of personnel for the Lawrence Township Public School District.
Ms. Gold said she is "extremely confident" that every one of the vacancies will be filled when the schoolhouse doors open in September. The school district plans to fill every one of the 50-plus openings — most of which actually were reported to officials earlier in the school year.
Nevertheless, there have been some last-minute notices from school district staff of their intention to move on.
"This has been one of the busiest recruitment summers (in the Lawrence public school district) for many years. We have never had people retire or move so late (in the year)," Ms. Gold said Wednesday morning.
Traditionally, the busiest time of the year for staff recruitment is March through July, Ms. Gold said. But that trend was thrown on its head this year. There has been much more personnel movement than usual, and also later in the year, she said.
Some school district employees have made the decision to retire later in the school year, while others are leaving the district because their spouse has accepted a job elsewhere and the family must relocate. Openings are also created because of illness or maternity leaves, Ms. Gold said.
But the pool of potential employees is deep, she said. There are 50 to 100 applicants for classroom teacher openings — some of it due to economic reasons. Teachers are moving from one location to another because their spouse has taken another job, for example, she said.
"More people are flocking to education. There are a lot of ‘second career’ teachers. It’s a more stable job, and they also love children. It is all working in our benefit," Ms. Gold said.