Manteca jobs paying $15 an hour for 20 hours a week are going begging.
The jobs — paraprofessional aides for classrooms including bilingual aides — are among 205 vacancies the Manteca Unified School District is struggling to fill.
And while the list includes many jobs that are just two or three hours a day, those who have taken the positions in the past advance fairly quickly into other classified support positions such as clerical jobs as they open up.
“It is common for those we hire for jobs that are a few hours a day to apply for other jobs in the district when they hear them come up and get more hours,” noted Ruth Baker, the Manteca Unified School District Director of Classified Personnel.
In addition to the 205 jobs the district is looking to fill now, they are gearing up for the 2017-2018 school year when enrollment could jump 1,500 students due to housing growth triggering the  need for more certificated positons for substitute and fulltime teachers as well as additional support personnel.
Manteca Unified is holding two informational meetings on Monday, Nov. 21, from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. and 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. so potential applicants can learn what it takes to get started in the district. Those interested are being asked to sign up by Thursday, Nov. 17, by going to Event Bright and registering at http://bit.ly/edwant
Baker said the bilingual paraprofessionals at the No. 1 position  in terms of difficulty to fill.
All of the paraprofessional jobs — bilingual included — requires some college units or passing a test.
Deputy Superintendent Clark Burke said the positions dovetail well into some college students’ schedules giving that they start at $3.95 to $15.03 an hour and are only for a few hours a day.
“They are an ideal experience for those that are working toward becoming a teacher,” he said.
Besides bilingual aides and classroom aides there is a pressing need for yard duty supervisors and nutrition services employees. The frequent vacancies are the function of two things: a job with more hours elsewhere comes up or the employee takes advantage of the ability to move into other classified jobs as they become available with more hours, and better pay. In many cases, the current fulltime classified employees started in the district in jobs that had only several hours of work a day.
One of the biggest sources to fill the positions lately has been retired people that are only looking  for a few hours of work a day.
Cooks and bakers start at $15.41 an hours. The pay steps based primarily on longevity go as high as $21.50.
Campus monitors start at $15.80 an hour. The pay steps top out at $22.04.
Classroom aides start out at $13.95 an hour. The pay steps top out at $19.46.
Bilingual aides in specific languages start out at $14.66 an hour. The pay tops out at $20.45
 Baker notes all open positions in the district are posted on EdJoin that in turn advertises on various  online sites such as Indeed.com and Monster Jobs. They also post jobs in the newspaper, with educational agencies and in school site newsletters and on campus marquees. They also advertise jobs on the school district office campus marquee visible from Louise Avenue and occasionally on the district Facebook page.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com