BEND, OR -- Bend-La Pine Schools is working to hire staff for next school year. It is a bigger effort than normal. “Caldera High School is adding its fourth class, as it’s going to be in its third year of operation, next year. And so that creates a need for some new teachers. We also have retirements and resignations that will create some needs at other schools,” says the district’s Director of Recruitment Ryan Kelling, adding schools face some of the same hiring challenges as other employers in the area, “Cost of living here in Central Oregon, whether it be housing or just the day-to-day expenses are just a barrier to bringing people on.”

Kelling tells KBND News hiring happens year-round, “I don’t know that in the nine years I’ve been with the district we’ve had no openings. That is either thinking about staffing needs projected moving forward, or retirements, resignations. This time of year, we’re looking at next school year and thinking about certified staff - teachers, school psychologists and counselors we’ll need, what administrators we’ll need. But we also have a need today for nutrition services workers for some of our sites.”

He says attracting new talent can be difficult, “For our licensed staff - teachers, administrators - there are only so many avenues they can pursue because we’re a smaller region. But for our classified staff - bus drivers, nutritions services workers - we’re competing with every other employer in the area.”

Bend-La Pine Schools has around 2,500 people and is Bend’s second largest employer. Kelling says many work in schools because of a calling to have an impact on the lives of children, “Ultimately, it’s selling the fact that these people truly are making a difference in the lives of kids. And so, there is something of a ‘calling’ to a school district for a lot of people.”

The link to view available jobs is at the BLS website.