All K-12 schools in our district recently came back from a three week-long virtual period. This event left many wondering when the issue would be resolved and if a similar situation similar to the last two years would arise. Fortunately, all students have returned, however the issue is far from over.
“The US economy as a whole is going through the "Great Resignation" and schools are not exempt from it. Additionally, schools can't just hire "anyone off of the street." Paraprofessionals, teachers, and bus drivers all have very specific credentialing/licensing requirements. (Not to mention background checks.) Therefore it's not a problem that can be solved quickly,” School board member Rachel Burke said.
A lot of the community originally thought this was an issue resulting from a large number of COVID cases and while that is part of the problem, the real issue lies within staffing. A lot of substitutes and bus drivers are quitting all over the country. This, in turn, is leaving the school system with a mass vacancy and demand.
“Having a society that values education and education-related professionals. Right now educators are being attacked from all sides. Therefore, it's not surprising that fewer people are going into the profession,” Burke said.
The education system in the U.S is constantly facing large amounts of criticism not only from everyday people but teachers and even government officials. This has been a battle going on for years, and COVID coming on so hard it solidified the need to address the issue. Many of those excited to go into education have backed down due to the wage, curriculum criteria, and just the overall treatment of educators.
“In Warren Township, we are fortunate to have a superintendent that is committed to mitigating the staffing issue as much as possible. Our Human Resources Department is working hard to recruit employees and provide competitive pay. In fact, Warren Township just increased the daily substitute rate to be one of the most competitive in Marion County,” associate principal Bre Brown said.
Luckily, the school district has been able to fill some of the slots needed to keep everything running smoothly. However, with COVID variants constantly appearing, the number of substitutes keeps rising each day. This is important, because virtual school raises a lot of problems which revolve around the fact that many students in the district are not able to access things such as wifi or meals during the day while at home.
“In recent weeks, we saw the Omicron variant of COVID spread rapidly and required many of our staff to isolate or stay home with quarantined family members and as a result, we moved to a virtual learning model. The unpredictability of the virus and its spread makes it hard to predict exactly what that timeline will be. We are acutely aware of the challenges these changes present to students and families. We have been sharing resources with students to assist during these unexpected changes and as always, our staff are ready and willing to help with any concerns students may have,” Brown said.
With the virtual period coming to an end, students and staff are hoping to stay in person for the rest of the semester and due to the more stable footing, we have managed to grasp that seems realistic. However, with all of the unexpected changes and events due to COVID, we are essentially fighting in the dark.
“I think that staffing will continue to be our biggest limiting issue to in-person education. We can not separate students into ‘can get to school without a bus’ and ‘can not get to school without a bus.’ At Warren we educate everyone, and that means we have to have available and reliable transportation (or start plan B, C, and D-ing.) Likewise, without enough staff, we can not successfully hold in-person classes. Safety issues as well as ‘really, how can you effectively teach 60 students in 4 different classes at one time’ issues”, Burke said.