Carpinteria Unified School District hosts Job Fair to fill urgent need for workers

CARPINTERIA, Calif.- The Carpinteria Unified School District hosted a job fair Tuesday.

With the school year just around the corner, Carpinteria, like many other school districts are in urgent need of workers. 

“Districts, as I said, in the state and in the nation are struggling to fill both the classified positions as well as certificated teacher positions,” said Superintendent of Carpinteria Unified School District Diana Rigby

Education experts attribute this vacancy to several reasons including the string of school shootings that have made parents, teachers, and students feel unsafe. 

“There's a lot of concern with the shootings that have been happening in schools. There's a lot of concern about safety,” said Linda Reimel, applying to be a substitute teacher to offer her expertise after having retired from decades of teaching.   

Diana Rigby attributes the vacancy in positions in large part to the pandemic but also stated, “I think working in schools is a real challenge, and I think people have made decisions to pursue other careers.” 

Carpinteria is doing its best to fill a slew of open positions including instructional assistants, bus drivers, custodians, and food service employees. 

“Whether you're the bus driver, food service worker, custodian, or the third grade teacher, you're an important adult in the lives of our children in Carpinteria and Summerland. So critical, critical positions,” emphasized Rigby

Both part-time and full-time positions are available with full-time positions offering benefits packages.

“I chose education because it matters and I believe in the future. And I wanted to make sure that I spent my career working with young people and helping them realize their dreams,” shared Rigby

New employees hired to any one of these positions will receive a $2,000 signing bonus.