The school buses started running again last week, and the chatter and laughter of kids in the hallways and classrooms could be heard again.
For Jones County Superintendent of Education Tommy Parker and Laurel Schools Superintendent Dr. Toy Watts, work has been ongoing all summer to make sure their districts had teachers in each classroom to instruct the returning students on opening day.
“The teacher shortage has made it difficult to fill all our vacant positions. We have 672 certified positions in our system. We have, however, been able to fill all our vacant positions except two, and we are interviewing for those positions,” Parker said. “Once school starts we will look at our numbers and see if we need to add any positions. Those additions, if needed, will be difficult to find!”
Parker said all JCSD classes will be taught by a properly licensed teacher this school term. His district enrolled 8,702 students last year, and there is an expectation that there will be an increase this school year, based on pre-registration numbers.
The teacher shortage is an issue for schools across the country, and last year the Laurel School District started the year short four math teachers at Laurel High School. The Laurel School District’s average enrollment has been around 3,200 students since 2012.
“Math positions are especially hard to fill and have caused many districts to be creative in how we approach recruitment of teachers,” noted Dr. Watts.
“Last year we utilized a computer-based program called Edgenuity to provide our students with access to a certified teacher via online learning modules,” she continued. “The classroom was staffed with an assistant teacher to facilitate the program, but the instruction was delivered via a certified teacher. It’s not the optimum situation, but it is how many districts are providing instruction in the midst of a teacher shortage. This school year we are only one teacher away from being fully staffed at our high school and will be utilizing Edgenutiy for one English class.”
The LSD currently has three openings at Laurel Middle School and will be utilizing long-term substitute teachers on those positions until a certified teacher is hired.
“We often look for retired teachers to assist in those long-term areas. This past year, we revamped our recruitment efforts and we saw those efforts pay dividends in our ability to attract qualified teachers,” said Dr. Watts. “We hosted two job fairs at our central office, and we attended at least five teacher job fairs at universities across Mississippi.”
Both superintendents said they are always recruiting teachers, even after school is in session.
“We always accept teacher applications. There is no deadline,” Parker pointed out. “Even if prospective teachers will not graduate until the fall or even Christmas, we encourage them to go ahead and file an application. Applications can be submitted on line through the school district website ( www.jones.k12.ms.us) or picked up at our office at 5204 Highway 11 North in Ellisville.”
Those interested in working in the Laurel School District can visit www.laurelschools.org/employment for more information or contact Personnel Director Sandra Earnest at 601-649-6391.
Both school districts are also always on the look-out for good substitute teachers, especially certified personnel who are available to work long-term.
“We had approximately 150 people attend our substitute teacher workshop. Most of these substitute teachers are not certified teachers and are used only for short term teacher absence. We also have a smaller group of certified substitutes that we use in long term teacher absence,” Parker said. “Most of these are retirees who can only work a limited amount of days. We have really not had a big problem finding short term substitutes, but certified, long term substitutes are difficult to find.”
The LSD currently contracts its substitute teachers through SubTeach, who handles the recruiting, hiring and scheduling processes. That information is available on the district’s website as well.
For all the teachers in the LSD and JCSD who have been hired and are in place, there will be a pay raise . . . more specifically the raise the Legislature mandated last year but then announced that the state might not have the funding sources to fund all teachers.
“We have found the funds to give all our teachers the $1500 raise. The state provided the raise for some but not all teachers. It cost our district over $100,000 to give those teachers not covered by the state raise, the same $1500 amount,” Parker explained. “This was money that we needed to spend in other areas, but our teachers are our most valuable tool when it comes to educating our students, and we wanted to make sure they all got the raise. We have been informed that additional money will be sent each month to help cover the miscalculation made by the state, but we will not know about that until the end of August.”
District officials confirmed that all of the LSD teachers are also receiving their pay increases, with the funds being provided by the district through December. The Mississippi Department of Education is expected to begin providing the state funds beginning in January. LSD officials said it is their understanding that MDE will reimburse the district funds that were utilized August through December to fund the teacher pay increases.
Another issue now on the minds of school officials, parents and students is the safety of students and school personnel on the different campuses. The local school districts have taken some steps to increase campus security.
“We began last year installing the BadgePass system in all our elementary schools. It is now completed at all our elementary schools,” said Parker.
“This system requires visitors to be buzzed in at the entrance to the school. The system has both audio and video of the person requesting to enter the school. Once inside the visitors are required to have their driver’s license scanned to verify who they are. Employees can use their district issued pass to unlock the doors to enter. We are looking at some other measures at our middle and high schools. At this time we haven’t decided what we can do or what we can afford.”
The LSD has taken similar precautions.
“The front office at Oak Park Elementary School was moved to the front of the auditorium. This move will provide one secure entrance for our school. Additionally, the front office at Mason Elementary School was renovated to provide a better layout for security purposes,” noted Dr. Watts.
Her district has also installed additional BadgePass entrances at its schools, and the district is currently in the process of accepting applications to hire an additional school resource officer.