By Rhys Baker

USD 379 has been awarded the Rural School District Educator Development Grant from the Patterson Foundation for $50,000. The grant aims to assist rural school districts that want to help paraprofessionals, substitutes, and other district employees receive education, training, and licensing to become fully certified teachers. USD 379’s Curriculum & Instruction Director Jaclyn Pfizenmaier says the district is analyzing possible future openings via a recruitment and retention team to search for potential teachers in these needed rural areas. “We can use this money to reimburse somebody who agrees to come to work here and earn their degree. Then, once they complete their degree, we can pay back, maybe not all of the cost, but we might use that for five different people at $10,000 each or two for $25,000. The main thing is we can’t reimburse until the teacher has completed their teacher program.”

Pfizenmaier adds that one of the reasons USD 379 pursued this educator development grant was the flexibility it offers. “The Patterson Family Foundation really allows us to personalize to our needs. So, we will look at our data and decide what positions we think will be coming open. What is an area that is hard to fill? They are all challenging to fill at this time, but there are some that are more difficult than others. When they give us the grant, they tell us that someone has to complete the program before they reimburse them, but they allow us to pick our needs of our community.”

According to the Patterson Family Foundation, funds may also provide allowances or reimbursement for existing licensed teachers who want to pursue additional certification in high-need, hard-to-fill positions teaching subjects such as special education, math, science, and kindergarten education.