School superintendents talk about challenges in filling job openings

The Madison Local School District is going into the new year with three teaching openings.

Two of those openings are at the middle school, while the other is at the high school.

Such is reality for many school districts, which are facing staffing shortages in several areas.

Madison Superintendent Rob Peterson said the district will use long-term substitutes.

"At the semester break, you could have some college graduates at that point," Peterson said. "We've been fortunate that the long-term substitutes we've used have done a really nice job for us."

According to Ohio law, school districts can employ substitutes with a high school diploma.

"That has been a savior for us," Peterson said. "Without those folks, we wouldn't be able to fill those holes."

He added that many of those substitutes have a lot of life experience that they bring to the classrooms.

"There's plenty of people in their 30s and 40s," Peterson said. "It's not just young kids right out of school."

Overall, he said Madison is in "pretty good shape."

Lexington opens school on Wednesday.

"We're going to have just about everything filled," Superintendent Jeremy Secrist said. "It's taken us right up to the school year to get it done. Five years ago, it wouldn't have been unusual for us to have our hiring completely done by the end of June."

COVID-19 pandemic affected education field

As the COVID-19 pandemic affected so many other areas, it affected education.

"The stats show in 2021 and 2022, millions of people got out of the (overall) workforce," Secrist said. "There are as many people leaving education in Ohio as there are getting into it."

Stan Jefferson, superintendent of Mansfield City Schools, added, "I think the field of education numbers will be down. Because of the pandemic, people worked from home a lot. It was difficult for some people to come back in person."

Many of them have not come back. Secrist said when Lexington posted job openings previously, the district would receive 20 to 40 applicants.

"We have to be far more proactive now," he said. "We're calling colleges and going to hiring fairs."

Bus drivers are positions that are particularly difficult to fill.

Finding enough bus drivers proves challenging

"Transportation is critical for a school district," Jefferson said. "That is one area that you don't want a shortage in because you can't operate. If you talk to any superintendent, they'd say they would like to have an abundance."

Brad Herman, superintendent for Lucas Local Schools, said the district is looking for at least one bus driver and a van driver.

Bus drivers have to go through extensive training before they are ready to hit the road.

"It takes three to six months to get the license and the testing," Secrist said. "It's not something you can turn around quickly."

Herman added, "It's a good thing for safety purposes but hard when you're trying to fill positions."

The Lucas superintendent said anyone interested in driving for the district should visit lucascubs.org or the Lucas Facebook page.

Peterson said Madison is "OK" with bus drivers but on the fringe for substitute drivers.

"I really commend our drivers," he said. "They really don't miss work too frequently."

Michael Browning is the new superintendent for Shelby City Schools.

"I'm going to knock on wood, but we have a full staff of bus drivers, which is unusual," he said. "They're the first adults that kids see when they come to the school."

Shelby was down to a single teaching opening

Browning told the News Journal on Thursday that the district was looking to fill its last teaching opening during an interview with an applicant.

"Some positions you have (open) throughout the year," he said. "We're to the point where we're almost full. We're coming into the school year in pretty good shape."

Secrist said intervention specialists are especially hard to find. They work with students on their social, behavioral and educational needs.

"There aren't enough of them out there," Secrist said.

Jefferson agreed with his Lexington counterpart.

Peterson also mentioned kitchen workers.

"It was next to impossible to find two-hour workers," the Madison superintendent said. "What we ended up having to do is turn those into four-hour jobs."

Some districts are even having trouble finding administrators, who are usually among the highest-paid employees.

"You go on the websites and still see open positions, and school is starting," Secrist said.

It's part of the new reality for schools.

"The whole thing now is how do you navigate operating your school system and getting all of the personnel," Jefferson asked. "Every company, every school district, is looking for workers."

Secrist doesn't see that changing anytime soon.

"We're hopeful that the education field normalizes over time, but I think we'll operate differently, being more active in ways we didn't have to before," he said.

mcaudill@gannett.com

419-521-7219

Twitter: @MarkCau32059251

This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Richland County superintendents scrambling to fill openings