Facing a shortage of teachers, Columbus County schools had to get creative.
Three days a week, some eighth-grade students at Tabor City School and West Columbus School tune in for online math and English classes led by teachers with the North Carolina Virtual Public School. Staff members step in the other two days to help students with their work.
“We’re implementing this in schools where we’ve found it hardest to hire certified teachers,” said Kelly Jones, a spokesperson for Columbus County Schools.
The district, which serves about 5,100 students in 12 schools, has hired at least 27 employees in the past year, Jones said. But it is still recruiting teachers for the new school year that began last month. Eighteen teacher vacancies need to be filled, Jones said.
Teacher vacancies are a concern across North Carolina, which ranks 43rd in the nation for teacher pay. It can be especially tough to find teachers in rural school districts that often lack the resources and salary supplements offered by larger counties.
School districts in the Border Belt, including Columbus County Schools, had dozens of teacher vacancies when they welcomed students back to classrooms last month.
Public Schools of Robeson County accounted for most of the vacancies, with 62 as of mid-August, WRAL reported. The district did not respond to multiple requests for information from the Border Belt Independent.
Whiteville City Schools has three teacher vacancies: first grade, fourth grade and eighth-grade math, said Morgan Fairfax Norris, director of operations for the district.
“We are visiting job fairs across the state to recruit potential teachers for Whiteville City Schools,” Norris said.
Scotland County Schools has six teacher vacancies, said Rick Singletary, chairman of the school board.
Bladen County Schools did not respond to requests for information for this story.
The N.C. Department of Public Instruction has not yet released teacher vacancy numbers for the 2025-2026 school year. But the statewide vacancy rate last year was 7.6%, up from 6.4% in 2023.
Public Schools of Robeson County, the largest district in the Border Belt, had a teacher vacancy rate of 15.7% last year, up from 9.9%. Of the 222 vacancies, 88 were in kindergarten through fifth grade, data shows. There were 35 teacher vacancies last year for students with special needs, up from 10 the prior year.
Scotland County Schools also saw an increase in its teacher vacancy rate, from 7.5% to 10.9%.
Bladen County Schools, which has had the highest teacher vacancy rate in the state in the past, saw its rate fall to 8.6% last year. That was down from 10.4% in 2023.
Teacher attrition
The annual State of the Teaching Profession report released in April showed that more Border Belt teachers are staying in their jobs. Bladen County Schools, Public Schools of Robeson County and Whiteville City Schools had attrition rates below the statewide average of 9.9% for the 2023-2024 school year, data shows.
Columbus County Schools and Scotland County Schools both had higher teacher attrition rates than the statewide rate, with 11.3% and 11%, respectively
Scotland County Board of Education Chair Rick Singletary said his district is working hard to keep teachers. It created professional learning committees for teachers to find support and talk about their professional needs.
“What they’re receiving now is focused support, focused on their particular area and their particular concerns,” he said. “Gone are the days now of one size fits all; what we’re able to offer here at the district is focused support.”
At Columbus County Schools, Kelly said the goal is student achievement.
“We are working as a team to ensure that teacher vacancies are not affecting student learning by providing resources and substitute support,” he said.
