Schools Coordinator Charts Path Towards Filling Vacancies, Keeping Staff

New Haven Public Schools (NHPS) currently has 193 job postings up on its website for 193 vacancies it’s looking to fill with new teachers, admins, coaches and substitutes.

Sarah Diggs has her eye on reducing that number — and on making the district more efficient in its hiring, and more attractive to potential employees.

Diggs is NHPS’s coordinator of recruitment and retention. 

She stepped into that public-school human resources (HR) role this past September after the district reshaped and expanded a previous HR position that had focused solely on recruiting new hires, and not on keeping in place the talented teachers New Haven already has. 

Before Diggs was hired for this current NHPS role, she served as the Managing Director of Learning and Development for Up Education Network and prior to that was Hartford Public Schools’ director of professional learning. She was also previously a principal at Achievement First Amistad Academy Middle School.

In a recent interview with the Independent, Diggs explained the background work that the HR team has been prioritizing to bring new life to the district’s recruitment and retention efforts — all at a time when the city struggles with a teacher shortage and the departure of some staffers who feel unsupported and pushed out by the district. The Board of Alders also recently granted a final approval for a new teachers union contract that calls for a 15 percent pay raise over the next three years.

"We Want To Show Our Urgency & Seriousness"

Diggs emphasized in her interview with the Independent that one of her top priorities upon taking over this recruitment-retention-coordinator role was making sure that a NHPS applicant’s very first experience with the district is a good one.

That meant updating the digital system the HR department uses to track the district’s vacancies. The goal: to help the team post job openings more quickly and accurately.

“We can’t fill openings if we don’t know they exist or don’t post job openings,” she said.

Much of Diggs’ work is done in collaboration with the teachers union and NHPS Senior Personnel Analyst Heather O’Grady. 

Since the department has shifted to a live vacancy tracker, Diggs said, HR is able to tap into real-time updates to acknowledge and post for jobs within two days of their becoming open.

The department has also made improvements to its requisition tracking system for applicants and new hires, Diggs said. That should help avoid losing applicants due to a lengthy hiring timeframe. 

“This is a buyers market and we are the sellers and what we’re selling is ensuring equitable outcomes for kids,” Diggs said. ​“I will not have a system breakdown be the reason we don’t hire a great person for our kids.” 

Diggs clarified that her role is not to determine a staffing model for the district, bur rather to fill open, vacant positions.

The HR department has also expanded its job posting network from two main places Frontline and CTREAP to now include LinkedIn and Indeed. 

Additionally, district job openings are shared weekly with current staff looking to apply for a promotion or new positions. Every Friday Diggs also creates postings to share with local colleges’ and universities’ job boards. 

By increasing the departments’ posting network, Diggs said, NHPS is able to reach not just certified teachers but all other necessary school staff to fill gaps for jobs that support the whole child. 

This coming Tuesday, the district will host its annual Career Fair from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Floyd Little Athletic Center at 480 Sherman Pkwy.

At the fair, the district’s hiring team will be giving applicants contingent jobs and on-site interviews. 

“We want to show our urgency and seriousness,” Diggs said. ​“It also aims to make the applicants’ experiences streamlined.”

Despite the district’s revamped hiring efforts this school year, it’s seen slightly more resignations. 

From August to the end of March, 247 staffers were hired. During that same time, 255 employees resigned and or retired. 

As of March 24 the district had a total of 226 vacancies, most openings being for classroom teachers. (Click here to view school by school vacancy data.)

Diggs said HR’s goal is to reduce resignations by 25 percent from last year to this year.

She said the district is exploring creating a teacher-career pathway for high school students to better learn about careers in education. 

The school district also has ​“grow your own” supports for educators looking to get certified to teach through partnerships with local colleges and universities. 

This month the district helped 13 current NHPS employees get enrolled in reduced cost Bachelor’s programs to get their undergraduate college degrees and work towards certification. Diggs said 30 current part-time and non-certified educators expressed interest when that program was announced.

“When you see your employer is committed to your growth, you’re going to be less likely to leave,” she said. 

Additionally NHPS uses durational shortage area permits (DSAP) to get non-certified educators in classrooms now while helping them to enroll in certification programs. 

NHPS Director of Student Services Typhanie Jackson established two certification pathways through Southern Connecticut State University (SCSU) and Capitol Region Education Council (CREC) specifically for special education teachers.

The Office of Special Education has also established a new partnership with Teach Connecticut after central office issued a teacher-interest survey that received 90 responses requesting help with becoming certified teachers.

Jackson’s and Diggs’ teams are now helping to align personal supports for all 90 staffers including free coaching sessions and vouchers for people to engage in free praxis testing support. 

Before Diggs’ arrival, the district also used ESSER funds to hire 65 non-certified teachers to reduce teacher-student ratios for K‑3 classrooms. Those ESSER-funds-hired teachers have been supported over the past two years in joining certification programs.

Another retention effort Diggs has been backing is developing processes for teacher placement and transfers. 

She described herself as a listening ear for educators and on Friday heard from two teachers who expressed interest in transfers next school year. 

In a phone interview Friday, Diggs said one teacher asked about transfer options that would allow her to have an earlier start time to deal with personal tasks in the afternoon. 

“I’m dedicated to those committed to New haven and want to ensure their placement is best,” Diggs said.

Diggs aims to connect recruitment and retention in transfer scenarios by informing staff of other positions in the district. 

“If someone’s going to leave, let’s make them leave and stay by finding another spot that works for them,” she said. 

When start-of-year transfers do occur, Diggs said she plans to explain to employees that they’re valued and to explain the specific reason why the transfer occurred to avoid confusion about their performance or value.

“The key to retention is communication and putting teachers where they need to be,” she said. ​“Every school’s not for every person, they need a clear pathway to teach and be supported.” 

"Seeking Passionate & Progressive Teachers And Leaders"

Currently Diggs is working to update the district’s website and application site interface. 

“Retention starts at the very first touch point,” she said. ​“We need to be incredibly intentional with first impressions.” 

Last week Diggs spent six hours with O’Grady and Frontline support updating the job postings website to include a more intentional welcome message and be more user friendly.

While doing so Diggs said the team also found issues like three different spellings of the same school.

The district’s job posting website now greets potential employees with the welcome message; ​“Thank you for your interest in a position with our district. We are seeking passionate and progressive teachers and leaders dedicated to providing high quality education to diverse children. Join a community that is making a difference where it matters most and apply today!”

Diggs also recently helped host an information session for current student teachers to celebrate their work and walk them through the district’s application process and certification supports.

The district’s departments partnered for its International Visiting Teachers Program which brought 10 international teachers from Spain to NHPS for the past two years. Recently those teachers were invited to return for a third year. Recruitment is also done in Puerto Rico.

“I want the teaching to be a profession that’s considered elite and highly regarded, because that’s what it is,” Diggs said. 

Another part of the retention puzzle is to be sure district leadership makes school staff feel cared for, connected, challenged, and committed.

When conducting exit interviews and collecting exit surveys Diggs said departing staff responses are submitted anonymously. Departure reasons have ranged from salary, logistical challenges with child care and pick up, school culture/climate, and lack of administrative supports. 

The district opted to participate in the Connecticut Department of Education’s coaching series focused on diversity recruitment. Diggs, Keisha Redd-Hannnans, Lisa Flegler, Pedro Mendia, Rosalyn Díaz-Ortiz, Mia Comulada-Breuler, and Kenneasha Sloley attend coaching sessions every month to learn skills on diverse recruitment strategies and educator workforce. 

In her previous Hartford role Diggs was introduced to the Urban Schools Human Capital Academy and has since taken virtual courses to learn about best selection, hiring, recruitment practices. 

Diggs said that some of her top goals for the year ahead include decreasing NHPS vacancies by 25 percent from August 2022 to next school year and increasing racial diversity among new staff by 10 percent. 

“The children deserve for us to be held accountable for our work,” Diggs said.