Good news for teachers in Wake County. Some elementary schools have been given the green light for hiring.

A total of 92 new positions have been opened as a result of the newly-approved state budget. That equals roughly one teacher per elementary school.

That came as good news to principals like Frank Creech, of Banks Road Year-Round Elementary School. A larger-than-expected group of kindergartners forced Creech to readjust his staffing to open an additional kindergarten class for his Track 4 students. Without a classroom teacher in place, Creech had reassigned a literacy teacher to the classroom for the short-term.

"We knew that we were going to have that classroom, whether it be from reorganization within the school or from bringing in an additional teacher that we may earn on the tenth day," he said. "Fortunately, we earned the teacher."

Student enrollment numbers are finalized on the tenth day of school. For year-round schools like Banks, that day came August 7. A provision in the state budget preserving class sizes for kindergarten through third grade gave Wake County the additional funding it needed to allow elementary school principals to staff up. Even traditional elementary schools, which won't welcome students for two more weeks, are eligible.

"Right now, the budget coming out the way it has, being approved, I think we are in good shape for the plan we have to go forward with staff," said Dr. Stephen Gainey, WCPSS Human Resources. "

Still, the openings are a drop in the bucket, compared to the number of resumes on file in the school system's human resources department. Thousands of folders stand alphabetized on shelves, representing thousands of teachers looking for jobs.

Alicia Silva is one of them. After relocating from South Dakota last year to teach middle school Spanish, she was one of 1,496 teachers whose short-term contracts ended on June 30 and were not renewed. She's been looking and waiting for an opening.

"I look for jobs on-line every day at the website," she said. "I've applied to some positions, but every time, a tenured person has been placed into that position."

With less state money allocated for middle and high schools, teachers like Silva can only hope that student enrollment numbers will give principals leeway to make a few more hires. She feels fortunate to have found a substitute teaching position for the short-term.

"I keep hearing that money will go through and that the stimulus plan will help the schools," she said. "But I'm starting to give up hope."

Wake County School administrators reported to the board on Tuesday that 911 of the 1,496 employees have been re-hired into the school system since June.  Some are already back on the job in year-round schools.  Hundreds more will be back at work when traditional schools start.