Grand Island Public Schools, Courtesy
GRAND ISLAND – Grand Island Public Schools is launching a new program to train people to be teachers because of the difficulty the district has in finding teachers to hire.
The Board of Education voted 8-0 to approve the Grand Island Public Schools Educator Fellowship program. Board member Donna Douglass was present at the first part of the Feb. 13 Board meeting but was not present for various votes that the Board took later in the meeting.
Brian Kort, recruitment and retention coordinator for the district, gave a presentation about the program.
People enrolled in the program will have to give a five-year commitment to be employed by the school district, or else they will have to pay back part of the money invested in them to be in the program.
Kort said the top barrier for people wanting to become teachers is that it costs approximately $7,000 per year for teacher education.
The school district will partner with Wayne State College and Chadron State College for the program. Chadron State’s classes are online only.
Kort said that the school district wants 10 people enrolled in the program. The school district will fund five people, and other sources will fund the other five people. Those other sources were not named at the Feb. 13 meeting.
Students will have tuition, books, and fees paid through the program. They will be paid while they student teach. Grand Island Public Schools paras are ideal candidates to be enrolled in the program. The program will target enrolling Grand Island Public Schools employees.
“We want this to start this summer,” Kort said.
The cost for five people for three years is $240,000, or $80,000 per year. Kort said that meetings will occur with paras next week after school to explain the program.
Kort also presented the district’s 2025-26 staffing plan, which was approved 8-0.
The total cost for additional staff members is $1,378,300. It includes six teachers, six crossing guards, two English Language paras. 3.4 FTE academic support coaches, and one positive support coach.
“Classroom teachers are our #1 priority,” Kort said.
Kort said that it was important to get the hiring plan adopted, because the hiring season is well underway right now.
“We need to be able to post positions,” Kort said.
The Board of Education voted 8-0 to purchase 100 LCD projectors for $88,008 from CDW.
The Board of Education voted 8-0 to purchase firewall and logging system items from Sterling of North Sioux City, SD, for $369,895.
