Belgrade School District looks to fill job openings before school year

BELGRADE, Mont. — The Belgrade School District is getting ready to welcome back students, faculty and staff for the new school year. But school officials are scrambling around to fill in almost 35 job openings districtwide.

Right now, there are nearly 650 staff members across the Belgrade School District. Officials say the district is having challenges finding five qualified special education teachers.

“Trying to find those that are qualified through meeting all of the standards through OPI requires is definitely a challenge,” said Thomas Reynolds, Belgrade School District human resources director.

Reynolds said the state requires special education teachers to have other specialization in their field in order to qualify to teach special education.

If the school district can’t hire the special education teachers that they need, there’s a plan B in place.

“We would outsource potentially those positions so that maybe those positions can be remote. And we would have a paraprofessional in with that class,” said Reynolds.

The school district is also looking for around 12 custodians. Reynolds said the district is 60% staffed with their custodians, and they have to work overtime to make up hours.

He adds the district is competing with Montana State University, the Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport and local businesses to hire custodians.

However, Reynolds believes in offering more flexibility for custodians to give them an advantage.

“We can be more flexible during the workday. We can work with staff that have kids in our school system,” he said.

He said the district’s mentorship program and actively listening to teachers’ concerns helps the district maintain teachers now and for the future.

“We try to do whatever we can in the leadership positions to make them have a great experience so that they stay here over time,” said Reynolds.

If you’re interested in applying at the Belgrade School District, click here.