Photo by Tim Hacker/ Mesa Public Schools
In the summer of 2019, Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction, Kathy Hoffman, approached Mesa Public Schools Superintendent, Ember Conley, with an idea: a pilot partnership between the district and the Arizona Department of Economic Security, or DES. The goal? To help alleviate a classified employee shortage.
“Running a successful school takes a team of talented professionals working alongside our educators, but many school districts have struggled to fill critical positions such as classroom aides, bus drivers, cafeteria workers and other paraprofessionals,” Kathy said. “These positions are needed to ensure student achievement and can help build a pipeline of future educators.”
In early September 2019, ARIZONA@WORK, the workforce development section of DES, held the first of several Mesa Public Schools job fairs. In many cases, applicants had not previously considered working at a school district, unaware of the range of opportunities, including trade and technical positions. More than 30 employees have been hired as a result of the partnership.
Kathy is thrilled with the results of the pilot partnership, and she looks forward to expanding the opportunity to districts throughout the state.
“The success of this partnership between Mesa Public Schools and Department of Economic Security provides a blueprint we can use to support the staffing needs of school districts across the state,” Kathy said. “I’m excited to see what we can accomplish on a wider scale.”
Learn more at www.arizonaatwork.com, or by visiting www.mpsaz.org/careers.