Manatee school district to hire 85 teachers

The Manatee County School District will hire 85 additional teachers for the 2013-14 school year to match enrollment growth recorded in the first 10 days of the school year.

At a public hearing today on the 2013-14 fiscal year budget, the district said 950 more students than expected are enrolled in school this year.

That growth requires the addition of 55 teachers. Another 30 elementary school teachers will be hired to meet Florida class-size requirements. 

School districts typically get accurate enrollment figures after the 10-day count, when, 10 days into the school year, they know how many students showed up and filled seats in the classrooms. 

Hiring the additional teachers will cost the district $4.3 million, of which $2.1 million will come from the state, $1.2 will be provided through Title 1 funding and $1 million that was already built into the budget. 

The hirings come after the district cut 186 teaching positions in May as part of a plan to save $20.6 million and meet class-size requirements. 

Most of those teachers found new jobs — either inside or outside the district — through a “memo of understanding" the district set with its teachers union in the spring. 

Read more about the public hearing in the Sept. 5 East County Observer. 

Contact Josh Siegel at [email protected].