Public school districts across Kansas are scrambling to hire employees ahead of the new school year.

“I predict a lot of school districts will start without all their teachers hired,” said Haven USD 312 Superintendent Clark Wedel recently.

“It’s a challenge, probably more than it ever has been in my career,” Wedel said on July 29, when the Haven school board conducted a special meeting and hired a fourth-grade teacher.

Hutchinson USD 308′s McCandless Elementary School will welcome students Aug. 15 with a long-term substitute teaching a kindergarten class.

(Read more: News – Salina Journal)