Manteca Unified is now growing by 400 students a year.

That pace started in 2016 and is expected to continue this year.

The district’s enrollment as of Wednesday was 23,572 students. While it is below last school year’s peak enrollment of 23,887, that number will rise significantly due to late stragglers returning to school from summer vacation as well as growth throughout the next eight months.

To put the 400 students a year gain in perspective it is the equivalent of 50 percent of the enrollment of a typical Manteca Unified elementary campus if 100 percent of the new students were K-8 students.

The district’s growth and retirements have not put Manteca Unified in a staffing bind that a number of California districts are going through as they are using substitute instructors as the school year gets underway while scrambling to hire fulltime teachers.

Dante Alvarez of the district’s Human Resources Department noted the nearly 1,200 members of the Manteca Unified certified staff were all in place on opening day save for three positions covered by substitutes while the district works on hiring the teachers.

“We have great subs that are credentialed and have worked with the district for a longtime,” Dante noted.

Manteca Unified was able to have nearly full staffing on opening day even though they had several teachers retire at the last minute.

The district so far for the 2018-2019 school year has hired 81 teachers. Nine were for new growth positions and the rest replaced retirees or those who resigned because they were moving out of the area. They also hired two administrators, a counselor, a behavior specialist, three psychologists, a school nurse, and two speech therapists.

Two of the toughest areas to find qualified candidates — high school science and math teachers — had all positions filled.

The district has been able to stay on top by anticipating needs in advance — retirements as well as for class size reduction — and hiring positions early.

Each February at a job fair the district will interview candidates and will hire them on the spot — with the proviso they pass background checks and such — for the following school year. 

Alvarez is working with nearby colleges such as the University of the Pacific and California State University, Stanislaus to place students that are on the teaching career path into Manteca Unified schools for student teaching or to fill paraprofessional teacher aide positions.

In doing so, the district wants to get the college students comfortable with the Manteca Unified system to increase the likelihood they will apply to teach in the district when they complete their degrees and secure their credential. 

The district is also working with colleges to identify students pursuing teaching careers who reside in Manteca Unified ZIP codes and nearby communities.

By building a relationship with perspective teachers while they are still in college, the goal is to give Manteca Unified an advantage when they are ready to apply for a job.

“They are already familiar with the area and district,” Alvarez noted. 

That means they will be more comfortable and they don’t have to be sold on the advantages of working as a Manteca Unified teacher or the attributes of the community.

The home grown approach is not only allowing Manteca Unified to not have to scramble for teachers but it avoids having to go out of state looking for them as some districts have been forced to do.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com