Nye County School District looking to fill 20 teaching positions

There’s gainful employment opportunities to be had in Pahrump for those interested in education.

The Nye County School District is looking to fill at least 20 teaching positions, mostly in the southern attendance area.

Human Resources Director Sheena Barns said the district is roughly a quarter of the way through their recruiting process after forming a recruiting committee of district representatives, staff and at least one parent.

“Right now we are looking nationwide to actively recruit qualified teachers and administrators,” she said. “We do have one administrative position open and that is the principalship at J.G. Johnson Elementary. We had interviews last week and we have already offered about a handful of positions and they have been accepted.”

Barnes noted that even though the Nye County School District’s starting salary for teachers is greater than salaries in Clark County, some teachers have been wooed by schools in Clark County, where they are facing a teacher shortage of 2,600.

She noted that while salary schedules are structured differently than Clark County, the annual starting teacher pay with the Nye County School District is $686 higher than the same position in Clark County.

“The Clark County School District has a lot of vacancies so we’re kind of competing with them and we’ve lost a couple of our people to Clark County,” she said. “They have hundreds of vacancies which is maybe equivalent to our 20. I’m working really hard to try and get some good people really quickly before Clark County gets them all.”

Barnes also said there are some vacancies for qualified coaches in Nye County.

“As far is coaching positions, we have a couple that are internal and I know we had a promotion at the middle school for a volleyball coach,” she said. “We prefer coaches who can also teach in the classroom. The negotiated agreement calls for all certified personnel are offered coaching positions before they go to the outside.”

Barnes also said she’s enlisted some assistance up north to fill the void, as the district is looking fill positions in both Beatty and Amargosa Valley.

“We had the K-12 music position in Beatty that was vacated,” she said. “I was with the principal in Lake Tahoe the last couple of days and he keeps me updated and he’s working very hard to recruit somebody that will really bring something to the music program. We also have a few openings and Amargosa schools.”

Barnes noted that the district has alternatives if it’s unsuccessful in locating qualified teaching candidates.

“If we don’t find a highly qualified, certified teacher for the position, then we will use a long-term substitute teacher,” she said. “The class sizes don’t change because we have a classroom already established. We want to hire as many qualified teachers as possible to limit the number of long-term sub to teachers in the schools.”

To learn more about employment with the Nye County School District, log on to www.applitrack.com/nye/onlineapp where those interested can complete the district’s employment application.