It's going

to be a tough year for teacher recruitment, Fayette educators believe.

Consider the

fact that in previous years the Fayette School System's job fairs have

drawn around 45 applicants and this year's fair drew only 16, and add

to it the fact that the Board of Education Monday night approved 54 new

positions, and the picture is bleak.

"It is

going to be a lean year," said Dr. John DeCotis, superintendent of

schools, during Monday's monthly board meeting. "There's a lot of

competition out there" for teachers.

The board approved

hiring 46 new regular classroom teachers and eight new special education

teachers, needed to meet state-required teacher/pupil ratios of one to

19 in kindergarten through third grade, one to 24 in grades four to eight

and one to 23.5 in high school.

That's in addition

to recruiting to fill vacant positions.

Estimated cost

of the new hires will be $2.5 million, said finance director Jim Stephens.

Hiring for

next year will begin right away, said DeCotis, with the added cost to

be built into the budget.

Meanwhile,

the prospect of a teacher shortage has the school board interested in

putting a new "fair dismissal" policy on a fast track. Although

new items introduced at one month's business meeting are usually put on

the table for a full month, board members said Monday they want the fair

dismissal policy on the agenda for their work session March 5.

"This

will serve as an exceptional benefit for recruiting and attracting teachers,"

said Karen Bullock of the Fayette County Association of Educators in presenting

the proposed policy.

Under the proposal,

new teachers would be granted "quality teacher" status after

signing a contract for a fourth consecutive year. Then those teachers

would be entitled to renewal of their contracts unless there is just cause

for non-renewal.

The board would

have to notify a teacher by April 15 of his or her third full year of

employment to avoid attainment of the protected status. In that case,

the teacher would be on probation, and the administrator involved would

be required to develop an improvement plan to help that teacher achieve

quality status.

Once that status

is achieved, the teacher would be entitled to a series of notices and

hearings if the board intends to end his or her contract.

"The classroom

teacher is the most important person in the entire educational system,"

said Bullock in urging the board to consider the proposal.

If enacted,

the policy would affect 114 teachers currently employed, she said.