Students in Wake County head back to class for the start of the traditional calendar school year one week from Monday.

With the bell about to ring, Wake County Public Schools is short about 400 teachers with just days left to hire.

Other WRAL Top Stories

That's leading the school system to recruit new teachers before they even graduate from high school.

The principal at Fox Road Elementary School told WRAL they are still bringing new staff on-board. One of the new teachers at the school, Aysia Woody, knew she had a job while she was still in high school.

Woody is getting her fourth grade classroom ready at Fox Road Elementary. This is her first year teaching.

The school system recruited Woody while she was a senior at Wakefield High School as part of its Future Teachers Program.

That program provides students training while they're in college with a job offer waiting for them when they graduate.

Right now, 50 teachers in Wake County Public Schools are graduates of the Future Teachers Program.

Woody is enjoying her role so far.

"I thought that teaching was a high-needs field and I also enjoyed what came with teaching," she said. "I get to interact with people. You get to be creative. Those are some qualities for myself. I do enjoy being creative, meeting new people, and then also helping others. So I thought that teaching would be the perfect field for me."

Ten other students who went through the program with Woody will be hired soon. There are 87 more are in college right now.

The district said it had a record number of applicants for the program in the spring.

The school system is asking that the future teachers commit to working in Wake County for three years.

Principals have told Wake County Board of Education member Jim Martin the applicant pool for school positions, including teachers, is dwindling.

"We'd love to have 6 to 12 people applying for every one position, and we’re now, as far as I’m hearing, lucky to have even one person applying for the positions," Martin said Monday during a school board committee meeting. As a result, schools are hiring less experienced teachers now, he said, and they need more professional development.

The reality varies school-to-school, said Drew Cook, assistant superintendent for academics.

Vacancies are high in some places; one middle school has just one science teacher to serve all grade levels, Cook said. Other schools are fully staffed.

Then the school system staff that had been supporting one middle school is stretching thinner and needing to focus on other tasks, he told the committee.

"This is an anecdotal story, but I think it’s illustrative of the issue you describe," Cook told Martin.

Cook said he's heard similar stories in other North Carolina school districts and nationwide.

"This is not a unique Wake County challenge," Cook said, and it's getting worse. "Places in content areas like social studies, where we would typically see lots of applicants, we’re not seeing the same number of applicants that are coming across."

In a related NBC News poll of Americans between Aug. 12 and 16, pollsters asked participants whether they believe schools have enough teachers and staff available to meet the needs of students.

The poll found:

  • 25% of those who responded said they were “a great deal” or “quite a bit” confident
    • 33% had “some” confidence in school staff levels
      • 28% percent had “very little” confidence
        • 13% had no confidence at all that there would be enough teachers and staff to meet student needs