In the Chapter 2 budget, the 2022 Virginia General Assembly Special Session I appropriated $10,00,000 to the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE), to support recruitment efforts for school divisions hiring to fill instructional positions between August 15, 2022 and November 30, 2022. In addition, the VDOE’s Department of Teacher Education and Licensure allotted an additional $2,000,000 from the fiscal year 2022 unspent Recruitment Incentive for Public Education balances to invest in school divisions efforts to fill key instructional positions. As a result, the total amount of committed and appropriated funds for the fiscal year 2023 Recruitment Incentive for Public Education equaled $12,000,000.

Below is the Appropriation language outlining the requirements for the Recruitment Incentive for Public Education.

Item 486, Paragraph A.2.n.3

$10,000,000 the first year shall be transferred to Direct Aid to Public Education (197) to support recruitment efforts through incentive payments to individuals hired to fill instructional positions between August 15, 2022, and November 30, 2022. Local school divisions desiring to participate in this program shall report to the Department of Education the number of instructional position vacancies on August 15, 2022, no later than August 31, 2022. The Department of Education shall report the August 15, 2022 instructional vacancy data to the Secretary of Education and the General Assembly by October 1, 2022. Based on this information, the Department shall communicate to each school division its available allocation from these funds, and school divisions shall communicate the availability of these funds in their recruitment. Such payments shall be based on $2,500 per individual; however, for individuals hired in hard-to-fill positions or hard-to-staff schools, as defined by the Department of Education, the incentive payment shall be based on $5,000 per individual. The Department of Education and the school divisions are authorized to prorate these amounts if the demand exceeds the initial allocation. School divisions shall (i) provide half of the incentive payment to the individual no earlier than January 1, 2023, and (ii) provide the balance of the full amount of the incentive payment to the individual no earlier than May 1, 2023, provided that the individual receives a satisfactory performance evaluation and provides a written commitment to return to the same school in the 2023-2024 school year. Individuals who are employed by a local school division in Virginia as of July 1, 2022, who accept an otherwise qualifying position in another local school division are not eligible for this incentive. Individuals employed by a local school division as of July 1, 2022, who transfer from a non-hard-to-staff school to a hard-to-staff school, as defined by the Department of Education, within the same division are eligible for the $5,000 incentive payment. School divisions shall report to the Department of Education, in a format specified by the Department, all instructional hires in the 2022-2023 school year who qualify for this incentive payment, no later than November 30, 2022. No later than January 5, 2023, the Department of Education shall report to the House Appropriations Committee and the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee on the number of hires reported by each school division participating in this program and the anticipated amount of funding to be provided to each school division for payment to those individuals.

As referenced above, the VDOE is required to report the August 15, 2022 instructional vacancy data to the Secretary of Education and the General Assembly by October 1, 2022. This report provides instructional vacancy data and further details the manner in which the VDOE has communicated with school divisions regarding the allocation of RIPE funds. This report also highlights the VDOE’s overall efforts to fulfill statutory duties regarding the administration of the RIPE grant program aimed at ensuring school divisions have the tools they need to fill critical instructional positions.