PINELLAS PARK, Fla. — Pinellas County is the first school district in the state to launch a teacher apprenticeship program under House Bill 1035. 

The bill provides an alternative path for people to become teachers in an effort to alleviate the teacher shortages.

What You Need To Know

  • Pinellas County is the first school district in the state to launch a teacher apprenticeship program under House Bill 1035

  • The bill provides an alternative path for people to become teachers in an effort to alleviate the teacher shortages

  •  It's a 2 year program for current school employees pursuing a Bachelor's Degree 

  • There's no cost to the apprentices, and they receive a pay raise while in the program

Pinellas County’s Human Resources Partner, Dr. Nicole Gallucci Landis, says this will help the district create a pipeline of teachers for years to come.  

“These employees are dedicated to our district already, and they live here,” Landis said.  

“Pinellas County can be a little expensive to live but these employees are hourly employees who now want to become teachers, so it truly helps us foster that desire and that passion so we can reward them, and hold on to them,” she said. 

Tiffany Reilly will be an apprentice, and while she’s not a certified teacher just yet, her passion for education is obvious. 

“I just want to show love and care and let them know they’re wonderfully made, and beautifully made, and that they’re perfect just the way they are,” she said, referring to her students.

Reilly is a para-professional. 

She works in the media center at the Nina Harris ESE Center, which serves students with special students, something Reilly has personal experience with after caring for her niece and her daughter.

“My oldest daughter, she wasn’t properly diagnosed. She’s going to be 23 this month. I saw all of the challenges I went through. She was on an IEP all through her life,” she said.

St. Pete College is partnering with Pinellas Schools for the apprenticeship program. It’s for school employees, like Reilly, who want to earn their Bachelor’s degree in either Exceptional Student Education or Primary Pre-k Education.  

The two-year program covers all tuition, books, and fees, so Reilly pays nothing.

“I know when I was a kid, and you asked me what I wanted to be. I wanted to be a teacher, but that dream was set aside for life choices, and you know how life throws curveballs, so it’s going to be able to go through now, you know? Something you have to put to the side when you’re a single mom or you’re just, things happen, so it’s exciting,” she said.

Apprentices will complete some online coursework, but it’s primarily “on the job” training. Reilly will work side by side with a veteran teacher.  

“I’m being placed with a great teacher, who I admire and love, and so I’m excited to learn from her and to work with the little ones,” she said.

Apprentices also receive a pay raise while in the program — $3 per hour the first year, and $5 per hour the second year. “I’m just every thankful, counting my blessings,” she said.

Pinellas County Schools and St. Pete College plan on accepting 30 employees into the apprenticeship program each year. 

Signing day for Reilly and the other apprentices is on July 16.