SARASOTA COUNTY, Fla. — Sarasota is apparently the place to look if you’re trying to get a teaching job.

A record number of teachers retiring this year has the district looking for qualified candidates to fill these spots.

The district has been sending recruitment teams all over the Midwest in an effort to fill these spots by the next school year — and are also looking to retain these new teachers as well.

For McIntosh Middle School English teacher Phyllis Flatt, her students are a priority.

“I was one of those teachers who often put my students ahead of my own personal children.”

And now that she’s been teaching for 30 years — the last 13 at McIntosh– she’s at the realization that her tenure is coming to an end. She says, “I never thought I would ever retire.”