BATON ROUGE - With the first day of school just around the corner, the East Baton Rouge School System has been forced to act quickly to fill nearly 300 teacher vacancies. 

Superintendent Dr. Sito Narcisse announced a last-minute decision to temporarily move teacher coaches back into the classrooms Thursday morning. Those coaches will fill the gaps until new teachers can be hired for permanent positions.

Narcisse explained at a school board committee meeting Thursday night that the decision has lowered the number of vacancies from 255 to just 78. 

"In 2020, we had 233 vacancies, and last year we had 219 vacancies, and now we have 78 vacancies. And if you haven’t known, we've had to make a few decisions," Narcisse said.

One way the school system is looking to entice new hires is by offering a $7,200 signing bonus. As for the teachers and staff in EBR Parish Schools who have been hanging on for years, board member Jill Dyason proposed a motion to offer a one-time $3,000 stipend for the 2022-23 school year.

That motion was unanimously approved at the school board committee meeting Thursday night. That means it will now go to the regular school board for another vote.

Dyason told WBRZ Friday she does not see any barriers to the stipend being approved next time around. 

"I am thrilled to be able to be offering this stipend to our employees and that we’re making this happen," Dyason said at Thursday night's meeting.

The incentives do not seem to stop there. Superintendent Narcisse aims to reward teacher retention with a salary raise next year.