At the end of the 2018-2019 school year, the Clarke County School District had seen 403 employees leave their jobs, according to records Flagpole obtained through an open records request. With 2,488 district employees, that means 16.2% of the workforce left their positions. The group includes everyone from academic interventionists and math teachers to paraprofessionals, secretaries, lunchroom supervisors, custodians and bus drivers—24 CCSD bus drivers will no longer be on the road.
Some of these people retired, others went to different schools, some moved out of state and others left their chosen professional altogether. The records from the school district don’t indicate what the employees chose to do after leaving their schools.
According to public records, the school district had lost 169 teachers and 51 paraprofessionals at the end of the 2018-2019 academic year. Hilsman Middle School lost the largest number of teachers, 24, as well as three paraprofessionals. Cedar Shoals High School lost 20 teachers, while Clarke Central High saw the departure of 15 teachers. Clarke Middle School lost 15 teachers, two paraprofessionals and its longtime principal, Tad McMillan.
Alps Road Elementary saw eight teachers and two paraprofessionals leave. Barrow Elementary lost six paraprofessionals and three classroom teachers, Burney Harris saw the departure of 15 teachers, while Chase Street Elementary lost three teachers, three paraprofessionals and its principal. Cleveland Road Elementary saw three teachers and two paraprofessionals leave. Coile Middle lost 10 teachers and two paraprofessionals. Three paraprofessionals left the Early Learning Center.
Fowler Drive lost eight teachers, four paraprofessionals and its principal. That job is still posted on the CCSD job board.
Gaines Elementary saw 10 teachers and four paraprofessionals leave. At J.J. Harris, five teachers and two paraprofessionals left. Oglethorpe Avenue lost seven teachers and five paraprofessionals. Stroud Elementary lost two teachers and two paraprofessionals. Timothy Road lost five paraprofessionals and five teachers. Whit Davis saw five teachers and two paraprofessionals leave. Whitehead Road lost eight teachers and two paraprofessionals, and Winterville saw six teachers and one paraprofessional leave.
As of Sept. 9, there were 87 vacancies on the Clarke County School District jobs website. For comparison, the much larger system in Gwinnett County had 26, DeKalb County had 12, Fulton County had four, Atlanta had three and Cobb County had zero.
CCSD officials are scheduled to discuss employee turnover at their Oct. 3 work session.
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