DVISD teacher vacancies low as rigorous hiring efforts pay off

DVISD continues making strides through the summer to fill positions inside and outside the classroom before the school year begins in August.

In the “race to zero,” meaning all teacher positions are filled across the district, DVISD is 94% staffed in classrooms, putting the district in a better position than previous years, nearing the halfway point of the summer. The effort to retain teachers and attract new ones includes giving all staff a 6% raise for the 2023-2024 school year and setting the starting salary for first-year teachers at $58,000. 

“Del Valle ISD has made incredible progress to ensure all students have highly-qualified teachers preparing them for college and the workforce,” Superintendent Dr. Annette Tielle said. “We have been vigorously working to attract the best talent with incomparable starting salaries, attractive benefits, and fostering the DVISD community at all levels. I’m proud of all the hard work done by many on this front and am excited to see the fruits of that labor this fall.” 

DVISD’s lowered resignation rate among teachers for the 2022-2023 school year has kept the number of open positions low, with openings still remaining at several elementary and middle schools along with the high school. District data shows that the 2022-2023 resignation rate is lower than that of the past few years, and the higher number of resignations in 2021-2022 came at a time when districts across the nation saw an increase of teachers leaving schools. 

The school district continues to welcome new teachers, administrators, bus drivers, paraprofessionals, and many others in new hire orientation sessions during the summer. There, they network with their new coworkers, learn more about the district, and understand how DVISD provides faculty and staff growth opportunities.

Teachers like Suprea Williams are coming to DVISD from larger districts across the state as they move into the Austin area. Suprea will teach eighth-grade social studies at Ojeda Middle School after moving to Central Texas from the Houston area.

“I feel great. It’s been very welcoming,” she said. “I'm really looking forward to maybe being more seen. I'm also looking forward to meeting more people because it's a smaller district.”

Suprea added that she was looking for a smaller district to work in where she could be involved in the community.

“I'm looking to build some new relationships with my coworkers with my students, and so I'm looking for that experience, and I love Austin so far,” Suprea said.

While plenty of new faces are joining the DVISD family, Andrew Frost is one of the recent hires returning to the school district. He previously worked in the district for 27 years and left in 2014. Nearly a decade later, he’s back and will teach eighth-grade U.S. history at the new Del Valle Middle School.

“One of these days, people are going to understand that Del Valle is just destined to be one of the crown jewels of Central Texas education, and I'm back to help fulfill that prophecy,” Andrew said. “I’m looking forward to getting back into the game and hopefully seeing a bunch of exciting, fresh new faces willing to learn and achieve.

DVISD will host a job fair for all positions on Thursday, July 20, from 5-7:30 p.m. at the Del Valle Opportunity Center.