Dallas ISD hosts job fair in an effort to fill hundreds of open positions

DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Dallas ISD is just weeks away from the start of the school year and there are still a lot of positions left to fill.  

Today, Dallas ISD hosted a job fair at Conrad High School to hire teachers. Openings were listed on signs and educators were standing by ready to interview candidates. 

"We currently have roughly 300 positions that are left to fill," Dallas ISD Director of Recruiting Steven Jackson said. "We're hiring on site." 

Brian Harris is one of the hopefuls. 

"Actually, my first major in college was education but I let my parents talk me out of it," he said. 

He went into corporate America to make more money but says it hasn't made him happy. Now, he's pursuing his passion.

 "So I actually have a niece and nephew who are 10 and 11 so I just want to be a power of good for them and change their vision of what success is," he said.

Once qualified teaching candidates are identified, to try and seal the deal Dallas ISD is offering incentives which includes a competitive starting salary of $60,000 and $2,000 signing incentive. 

Given the recent school shooting in Uvalde, the district is also addressing any safety and security concerns. 

"I think that what we're doing right here in Dallas ISD is we're promoting what we have in our school district," Jackson said. "We're a safe school district that provides safety for our students and our teachers."

District officials say they're prepared heading into next year. They were able to fill more than 100 positions on Thursday. They'll be hosting another job fair next month to try and fill the rest of the open positions. 

Check out more job fair info here.