Saugus super headed to teacher job fair

SAUGUS-The School Department is going into uncharted territory with the goal of capturing a pool of resumes for teacher recruitment.Outside of Superintendent Richard Langlois’ office is the makings of a booth that he, along with a rotating line up of principals and staffers, will man during the Merrimack Teacher Recruitment Fair at the Lowell Auditorium late next month. There, Langlois will try to sell new teachers on the values of the School Department while the teachers in turn tout their resumes. Although it is costing the department $700 to participate, Langlois said it will provide the district the most bang for its buck when it comes to teacher recruitment.”What’s nice about the job fair is it’s fiscally productive,” he said.Through the job fair, Langlois said he can meet candidates from all over and talk with them on the spot versus placing one small ad, which costs around $1,500 and hoping someone responds.When participants register at the job fair, their resumes are scanned and put on a disc and every participating district gets a copy of that disc.When Langlois interviewed for the superintendent job he told the School Committee how his district lured students back to the public school system by launching a marketing campaign. He is using that same game plan this time to lure teachers.Langlois said he has built a marketing campaign, created a brochure and will start his pitch at the teacher fair where he hopes to line up interviews and collect resumes to have on hand for future hires.”It’s always about raising the bar of qualified teachers,” he said.It is also, he added, about filling some specific positions.Langlois said the district needs English as a second language teachers and he is also reviewing the current staff to see where they stand.Non-tenured teachers, or those who have been with the district for less than three years, are required to undergo a review every year, which Langlois said the district has been negligent in doing. Tenured teachers should be subject to reviews every two years.”I’m setting up a database to do this,” he said.His goal, Langlois said is not only to have 100 percent highly qualified teachers but to have them 100 percent qualified in the areas in which they teach.”It’s not just about licenses, but about demonstrating competency in the content area in which they teach,” he said.He said it’s also not just about teaching. By having to hit the 100 percent qualified teacher mark, it also rules out favoritism when it comes to retaining jobs.Teacher retention, however, is Langlois’ ultimate goal. The recruitment and retention of teachers, he said is an important in order to build up the schools.”So I plan to have a pool of candidates,” he said. “Previously, Saugus never participated in any job fairs . . . but in five or six hours we’ll see such a number of people and resumes . . . this gives us a taste of the best of what’s out there.”