Colorado Education Staffing
We staff Colorado schools with CDE-licensed teachers, paraprofessionals, substitutes, and clinicians — and when you want to keep one, the conversion costs nothing. Lotus School for Excellence in Aurora put that in writing.
- $0
- Temp-to-perm conversion fee — no buyout when you keep someone
- ½
- Automated credentialing cuts typical time-to-hire roughly in half
- 12 yrs
- Staffing K-12 schools, founded by a former classroom teacher
- 1
- Client per region — your pipeline is not shared with a competing school
Roles we help fill
- Special education teachers
- Paraprofessionals
- Day-to-day and long-term substitutes
- School psychologists
- SLPs
- OTs
- PTs
- BCBAs
- RBTs
- Education support staff
What staffing a Colorado school actually involves
Colorado licenses educators through the Department of Education, and school employment is gated before anyone works around students: a fingerprint-based criminal background check, CDE licensure or authorization matched to the specific role, and — for special services providers like school psychologists, SLPs, OTs, and PTs — the discipline-specific credential on top of it. The file runs several documents deep per person, and assembling it after the vacancy opens is how a school loses a quarter.
The Front Range concentrates most of the state's demand into a corridor where Denver, Aurora, Jefferson County, Cherry Creek, and a dense charter sector all recruit from the same metro pool — while districts on the Western Slope and the Eastern Plains compete for educators who have to be willing to relocate. It is effectively two different hiring problems inside one licensure regime, and a national vendor treating Colorado as a single territory tends to serve neither well.
The shortage categories are the familiar ones, sharpened by cost of living along the corridor: special education certifications, related-services clinicians, and reliable day-to-day substitutes.
Keeping the person you want, without a buyout
Most staffing contracts penalize a school for wanting to keep someone. You bring in a contract educator, they work out, and converting them to staff triggers a buyout or a percentage of first-year salary. That fee is why schools hesitate to try someone at all.
We do not charge it. Every placement is temp-to-perm at no cost — evaluate a professional in your building through a real marking period, then hire them permanently with no conversion fee. Kelly Hamm, HR Director at Lotus School for Excellence in Aurora, put it plainly in a letter she wrote us in October 2024: the school was thrilled to transition a contract employee to permanent status without a buyout fee. That letter, and seven others from named school leaders, are published in full at /references.
What we screen for in Colorado candidates
Clearances get a candidate to the starting line; the screen decides who reaches your shortlist. It is matched to the role: special education teachers on IEP writing, meeting experience, and behavior-plan implementation; paraprofessionals on de-escalation, personal-care comfort, and IEP data collection; substitutes on classroom management under ambiguity and a morning-of reliability record we verify with prior schools; clinicians on Colorado licensure and multi-building caseload management.
The methodology was built by our founder, Robert Flom, a former K-12 teacher — which is why the interview sounds like a case review of the job rather than a personality screen. Licensure is verified with the state for the specific role, not read off a résumé.
One Colorado client per region
Along the Front Range, the agency staffing your school is very likely presenting the same candidate to the district competing with you for the same families. We removed that conflict: one client per region. Sign with us for your part of Colorado and we will not supply a competing school or district — the teachers, paras, and clinicians we recruit there are presented to you alone.
We also run school-supply and backpack drives for partner schools, because we staff the communities we work in, not just the payrolls.
Clearances completed before the interview
Our automated credentialing system completes Colorado's fingerprint-based background check up front, verifies CDE licensure for the specific role, confirms discipline licensure for clinicians, and tracks every document — TB tests and vaccination records included — flagging anything approaching expiration. Files stay audit-ready for the life of the placement, which matters to charter boards and district compliance offices alike.
That system is the mechanism behind the speed: typical time-to-hire runs roughly half the norm because candidates reach your interview with complete files, and in past engagements we have placed certified special education teachers within two weeks.
What we verify before you meet a candidate
- Colorado fingerprint-based criminal background check
- CDE licensure verified for the specific teaching or special services role
- State licensure verified for SLPs, OTs, PTs, and school psychologists
- TB test and vaccination documentation
- Reference checks with prior schools and supervisors
- Role-specific skills screening
- Every clearance tracked and expiration-flagged in our credentialing system
“We are thrilled that we can transition our contract employee to permanent status without a buyout fee. The experience has been outstanding.”
How an engagement works
Free 30-minute discovery call
We map your open roles, buildings, and Colorado licensure requirements, and you leave with a straight read on whether we can help. No cost, no obligation.
We source, screen, and credential
We recruit against your roles, interview every candidate ourselves, and complete Colorado's fingerprint-based background check, CDE licensure verification for the specific role, and clinician licensure checks before you see a name.
You choose from a vetted shortlist
Your administrators interview fully credentialed candidates and make the final call on every hire.
We stay through the placement
We stay involved through onboarding and the life of the placement — and if you want to keep someone, they convert to your permanent employee with no buyout fee.
Does FSG staff Colorado schools?
Yes. Lotus School for Excellence in Aurora is a Colorado client, and its HR Director wrote us a reference letter in October 2024 describing the experience as outstanding. That letter is published in full at /references.
What does it cost to hire one of your contract educators permanently in Colorado?
Nothing. Every placement is temp-to-perm at no cost — no buyout, no percentage of first-year salary. Lotus School for Excellence specifically cited that in their reference letter: they were able to transition a contract employee to permanent status without a buyout fee.
Do candidates arrive with Colorado clearances complete?
Yes. Our credentialing system completes and tracks Colorado's fingerprint-based criminal background check, CDE licensure verification for the specific role, discipline licensure for clinicians, and TB and vaccination documentation before any candidate reaches your shortlist.
Will you also staff the district competing with ours?
No. We work with one client per region, so the candidates we recruit in your part of Colorado are presented only to you. Along the Front Range, where several large districts and a dense charter sector recruit from one metro pool, that exclusivity is most of the point.
Do you staff outside the Denver metro?
Yes. Front Range hiring and Western Slope or Eastern Plains hiring are genuinely different problems — one is a crowded metro pool, the other requires candidates willing to relocate — and we scope them differently rather than treating the state as a single territory. We will tell you honestly on the discovery call what a given role looks like in your part of the state.
How fast can you fill Colorado openings?
Automated credentialing cuts typical time-to-hire roughly in half because the paperwork is complete before interviews begin, and certified special education teachers have been placed within two weeks in past engagements. We quote realistic per-role timelines on the free 30-minute discovery call.
Need staffing support for hard-to-fill roles?
Contact Focused Staffing Group to discuss your current and upcoming needs — or plan ahead and build a stronger candidate pipeline before openings become emergencies.
Responsive · Compliance-minded · Focused on hard-to-fill roles