State grant aims to bolster local teacher recruitment, retention efforts amid statewide shortage

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (WGEM) - The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education announced the 125 recipient school districts to be awarded a 2024 “Grow Your Own” grant.

The program aims to decentralize the recruitment of K-12 teachers in Missouri, by distributing funds for district-level efforts.

“You have internships, you have scholarships, you have mentoring programs, there’s a wide variety,” said Bobbie Jo Lewis, director of the Missouri Teacher Development System. “I’ve heard of districts actually bringing in help from a partnership, from a university.”

This comes as Missouri, like many other states, deals with a deficit of teachers.

“We have more and more that are retiring and leaving, but on the other end, we don’t have enough that are coming in and staying to fill that, so that really becomes a problem,” Lewis said.

One feature of the GYOG program is that it helps retain teachers in the areas in which they went to school which typically leads to higher retention overall.

“If we can incentivize individuals and get them back where they really want to be, in some cases, I think there’s value in that,” said Todd Fuller, spokesperson for the Missouri State Teachers Association. “I think those individuals already want to be back in the districts. They just want to be able to have a living wage and take care of their families in those districts.”

Below is a list of the school districts that received a “Grow Your Own” grant, and the colleges and universities awarded educator development grants through the same program.

School District Recipients: $10,000

• Academy for Integrated Arts
• Altenburg Dist. #48
• Believe Academy STL
• Bloomfield R-XIV
• Bolivar R-I
• Branson R-IV
• Breckenridge R-I
• Campbell R-II
• Carrollton R-VII
• Carthage R-IX
• Caruthersville School District #18
• Cassville R-IV
• Chillicothe R-II City
• Garden Montessori School
• Clark Co.R-1
• Clearwater R-I
• Clinton School District
• Columbia School District #93
• Couch R-I
• Crawford Co. R-II
• Crossroads Charter Schools
• Dadeville R-II
• De Soto School District #73
• Diamond R-IV
• East Prairie R-II
• Farmington R-VII
• Fort Osage R-I
• Francis Howell R-III
• Fredericktown R-I
• Gallatin R-V
• Gideon 37
• Glasgow School District
• Guadalupe Centers Charter Schools
• Hamilton R-II
• Hancock Place School District
• Harrisburg R-VIII
• Hume R-VIII
• Independence School District #30
• Jackson R-II
• Jefferson City School District
• Kearney R-I
• Kirksville R-III
• Knox County R-I
• La Monte R-IV
• Laclede County C-5
• District, Joel E. Barber School
• Lafayette Preparatory Academy
• Lee’s Summit R-VII
• Leeton R-X
• Lewis Co. C-I
• Liberty School District #53
• Lincoln County R-III
• Linn Co. R-I
• Lutie R-VI
• Macon Co. R-IV
• Maplewood Richmond Heights School District
• Marceline R-V
• Maries Co. R-II
• Marshall Public Schools Marshfield R-I
• Maryville R-II
• McDonald Co. R-I
• Meadville R-IV
• Mehlville R-IX
• Miami R-I
• Milan C-2
• Moberly School District #81
• Momentum Academy Montgomery Co. R-II
• Montrose R-XIV
• Mount Vernon R-V
• Mountain Grove R-III
• Mountain View-Birch Tree R-III
• Nevada R-V
• Nixa Public Schools
• North Platte Co. R-I
• North St. Francois Co. R-I
• Northwest R-I
• Osage Co. R-I
• Park Hill School District Parkway C-2
• Platte Co. R-III
• Pleasant View R-VI
• Potosi R-III
• Purdy R-II
• Putnam Co. R-I
• Raymore-Peculiar R-II
• Reeds Spring R-IV
• Republic R-III
• Richland R-IV
• Ritenour School District
• Riverview Gardens School District
• Rockwood R-VI
• Savannah R-III
• School District of Clayton
• School District of Washington
• School of the Osage
• Scotland Co. R-I
• Scott Co. R-IV
• Sedalia School District #200
• Seneca R-VII
• Sikeston R-6
• South Callaway R-II
• Southern Boone Co. R-I
• Spokane R-VII
• Springfield R-XII
• St. James R-I
• St. Joseph School District
• Ste. Genevieve Co. R-II
• Stoutland R-II
• Sturgeon R-V
• Summersville R-II
• Swedeborg R-III
• The Soulard School Twin Rivers R-X
• Van Buren R-I
• Van-Far R-I
• Warrensburg R-VI
• Waynesville R-VI
• Webb City R-VII
• Wellington-Napoleon R-IX
• Wentzville R-IV
• West St. Francois Co. R-IV
• Wheatland R-II
• Willard R-II
• Wright City School District

Educator Preparation Programs: $70,000

• Avila University
• Cottey College
• Culver-Stockton College
• Hannibal-LaGrange University
• Lindenwood University
• Missouri State University
• Missouri University of Science and Technology
• Missouri Western State
• University Northwest
• Missouri State University
• Saint Louis University
• Southeast Missouri State University
• The Educator Academy University of Central Missouri
• University of Missouri—St. Louis
• Westminster College

2-Year Institutions: $45,000

• East Central College
• Jefferson College
• Mineral Area Community College
• North Central Missouri College
• St. Charles Community College

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