Miss Carlisle, the district human-resources lead, told the board the district’s teacher-retention rate for the past year is "over 91 percent," exceeding state averages she cited. Her presentation covered current vacancies, substitute-teacher counts, compliance training and targeted recruitment efforts.

Carlisle said the district had about 104 active substitute teachers and that the HR team delivered 18 sessions to review the updated Harris County School District handbook; she reported full sign-off on the handbook. She described targeted outreach to recruit bus drivers and monitors — including events at a recreation center and outreach to retirees — and said two special-education paraprofessionals were being added at school sites because of caseloads.

On retirements, Carlisle said staff maintain an informal tracker built around Teachers' Retirement System (TRS) eligibility and that, "very loosely," about nine teachers currently appear likely to be eligible to retire in the near term across multiple grade bands and subject areas. She cautioned that personal circumstances could change and said the tracker is used to guide early recruitment and targeted hiring.

Carlisle identified school psychology as a critical need and said she has a candidate, Philip Johnson, "in the pipeline." She described prior outreach that brought candidates from outside the county after multi-day visits to the district and said staffing events might need to be held after hours or on weekends to attract candidates.

Board members asked clarifying questions about retirements, certification needs and timing for recruitment. Carlisle said the HR and certification teams would continue targeted recruiting and interviewing, including interviews of December graduates. The board did not take formal action on HR items at the Oct. 2 meeting.