SFSD offers $5,000 sign on bonus to fill special education jobs

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) – The school year may have just ended, but the Sioux Falls School District is already looking to find more teachers – specifically special education positions.

Kayla State has been a special education teacher in the Sioux Falls School district for ten years.

“I love how personalized I can get and that I get to work with smaller groups of children every single day, and it’s awesome with students one on one or a small group setting,” special education teacher, Kayla State said.

Special education is one area the district is seeing a need for more staff.

“We recognized that we were going to need more special education teachers based on student need this year, so we started with an early hire process,” senior director of human resources, Becky Dorman said.

Dorman says since the beginning of the year they’ve hired about 25 people for the open positions, they still need about 25 more.

“We had to take other measures to recruit and then retain the special education teachers that we do have, so that’s the next steps we took, which included a hiring bonus,” Dorman said.

New special education teachers will get a $5,000 hiring bonus.

“Or if you’re currently teaching for us and you have a special ed endorsement, let’s say you’re teaching third grade and you have a special education endorsement, but you’re in a general education classroom, if you come back to special education, you’ll get that $5,000 hiring bonus as well,” Dorman said.

They also want to make sure they retain current special education teachers.

“Pre-k through 12th get an additional $2,000 this year, next year, and the year after, as an incentive to stay in special ed,” Dorman said.

State says she enjoys her position and she is thankful for the support she gets each day.

“Special education is truly a team, you get to work with a team all the time from general education teachers, other special education teachers, service providers, and parents,” State said.

To be a special education teacher, you need to be certified. As part of the bonus package, the district will pay for any uncertified teacher’s tuition to complete the 15 credit program. You can teach special education while you complete the credits.

To learn more about what is offered in the bonus package, here’s a link to the Sioux Falls School District’s website.