Fresno Unified School District hosting a hiring fair

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Potential future Fresno Unified faculty expected to fill McLane High School Thursday hoping to become a part of the district.

"In the state of California and nationally there is very much a very real teacher shortage so we need to sell our district because it is competitive," said HR Administrator Maria Mazzoni.

Fresno Unified is looking for teachers, nurses and speech pathologists and could be hiring for over 300 positions for the 2018 to 2019 school year.

The need stems from an existing teacher shortage, in addition to Fresno Unified's new approved contract with the teacher's union, now the district needs to double down.

"One of the provisions of that is a class size reduction provision, as well as the elimination of combination classes in elementary and that's where we're going to need additional teachers," said Superintendent Bob Nelson.

Also expected at the hiring fair are at least 200 of the districts substitute teachers who want to teach full time.

"We want to identify and try and find those candidates that have that strong belief system in students working in Fresno Unified is very rewarding. It's my 30th year, 29th year and I started as a teacher, and I would not change my career for anything," said Mazzoni.

This is the first hiring fair in Fresno so far this year but they are expecting to have more over the next few months, including recruitment at local colleges.

"They have to be a really wonderful teacher who loves their subject matter, and understands how to teach, and willing to love and have compassion for kids I want both sides of that equation," said Nelson.