This is according to data presented at a March 23 board meeting.
Eddie Curran, RRISD's chief human resources officer, said this could be because teachers stayed at their jobs during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic while employment options were less certain then left the district as uncertainties lifted.
Data from the March 23 update shows 11.6% of teachers departed the district during the 2020-21 school year. That figure increased to 15.9% in 2021-22 as the district faced a staffing crisis. Despite this increase, the turnover rate remains lower than the regional rate of 18.8% for central Texas educators.
The 15.9% turnover rate represents a total of 548 teachers leaving the district, Curran said, compared to the 591 hired in 2022-23.
Exit interview data compiled in the 2022-23 school year shows 31% of teachers left the district for personal reasons, which Curran described as a broad category inclusive of many potential reasons, such as situations at home, lifestyle decisions and commuting time.
The data also shows 20% of RRISD teachers left because they accepted another job, and 16% left for health-related reasons.
As longer-tenured teachers retire or leave the district for other jobs, Curran said the proportion of new teachers within the district is also growing.
