Memphis-Shelby County Schools has filled 97% of its teacher vacancies and has plans to fill the remainder ahead of the coming school year.

The district has 6,000 teaching positions in its 160 schools. Of those positions, 180 are vacant. The number is down from July 20 when the district reported it had 220 vacancies.

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“Parents can rest assured that there is a plan in place to have quality coverage in every classroom on Day One, which includes combining under-enrolled courses and using certified central office staff, certified substitutes and remote instruction on a course-by-course basis for some upper-level classes, as commonly found on campuses nationwide,” the district said in an email statement.

During the same time last year, the district had 268 vacancies, 67% more than this year.

Teacher shortages are not confined to Memphis.

The U.S. Department of Education reports teacher shortages for the 2022-2023 school year in core subjects, including language arts, math, social studies and science.

The department reported teachers are needed in those subjects starting from sixth grade through high school.

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The report does not disclose how many teachers are needed.

Part of what has helped MSCS fill its spots is a new state law that went into effect July 1 that allows retired teachers to return to the classroom without losing their retirement benefits.

Teachers must have been retired for two months before they can qualify and although they won’t lose their benefits, they will be reduced to 70% of what they were receiving before they were rehired.

Retired teachers can also be re-employed for only a year at a time with additional yearlong renewals possible as long as they meet the other requirements in the bill each time they are re-employed.

The district could not immediately make numbers available on how many retired teachers it has hired since the law was passed.

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The law also applies to retired bus drivers, and the district also said Tuesday that all of its bus driver positions are now filled ahead of the school year.

Alvin Tucker, MSCS’ district manager for First Student, the bus company the district uses, said there are 330 drivers ready for the school year.

There are 297 routes to cover, so Tucker said some of those drivers are considered on stand-by.

First Student didn’t have specifics on how many of those 330 drivers were previously retired, saying instead that it was “not a major factor but did contribute, no question.”

The 2022-2023 school year starts Monday, Aug. 8 and parents and students can check here for helpful reminders to make sure they are ready.