Suppose all the teachers at the three small schools on SeaTac's Tyee High campus quit last year?

That's how many teachers-185, or 16 percent of the district's total-left or took personal leaves during the 2005-2006 school year.

New district human resources director Don Waring also told board members on Oct. 25 that only 19 of those retired.

Waring cited several reasons for the high turnover, including lack of follow-up on continuing contracts, having a liberal "personal leave" policy, issuing one-year contracts to new hires, experiencing issues with non-performing schools, and relying on the rehiring of retired teachers for vacancies.

Forty-nine percent of the teachers hired last year signed only one-year contracts. Waring said. Fifty-three percent were first-year teachers.

The district has also fallen short in recruiting and keeping a teaching staff that resembles the district's student demographics, he reported.

Whites make up 37 percent of the student enrollment but 91 percent of the teaching staff. Hispanics are 25 percent of the student population but only 2 percent of the teaching faculty. Numbers for Asian/Pacific Islanders are 21 percent of students and 5 percent of teachers.

The new personnel director outlined an ambitious recruiting strategy focusing on developing a "Teacher Cadre" and in-depth interviews of potential hires.

The cadre would include the "best of the best" recruits hired with continuing contracts even if the district does not have an immediate opening, according to Waring.

The new hires would substitute in selected schools until placed in a regular classroom job.

Waring said principals would quickly fill vacant positions from the cadre.

Applicants would also be interviewed and screened not only for qualifications but also for "psychological indicators that separate best teachers from average teachers," he noted.

Other recruiting strategies include increasing the number of student teachers, recruiting outside of the state for one or two teachers in hard-to-fill subjects, and involving minority principals and teachers in recruiting minority teachers.

Methods to retain teachers include helping teachers qualify for national certification, establishing a math endorsement program, providing assistance for district para-educators to become teachers and establishing a program for those switching from other professions into teaching, Waring said.

"No one strategy is singularly effective," Waring concluded. "The combined strategies are very effective."

Board member Tom Slattery added, "For years I have been hearing the glass is half empty, so I'm excited to see these retention strategies."