Short an English teacher, West Shores High School in Salton City turns to remote ones

With one day remaining in the first quarter of the school year, West Shores High in Salton City requires an immediate and creative solution to fill a longtime English teacher vacancy.

At Thursday night’s school board meeting, Coachella Valley Unified’s Board of Education voted to launch a virtual pilot program to meet that need.

The virtual English course program will allow credentialed English teachers from other secondary schools in the district to remotely teach one virtual class during their prep periods from their respective school sites to West Shores High students. A certificated substitute teacher will supervise and support the students in this endeavor.

The program is set to begin on Monday, Nov. 6, and will conclude when a full-time credentialed English teacher is hired. (A credentialed teacher possesses a single subject teaching credential in English from the state’s Commission on Teacher Credentialing. This credential allows educators to teach English at secondary school sites in California.) If a full-time teacher is not found, the pilot program is set to end on June 30, 2024.

Staff will have about a week to prepare curriculum and set up equipment, including dual monitors, a motion camera, a headset and a document camera. The district-provided equipment will allow the virtual educators to view the classroom from several vantage points.

"I don't have a problem with this, I know this is a temporary fix," said Trustee Joey Acuña Jr., "but I'd also like a plan of how we're looking at filling these positions, because some kids do well and some kids don't do well (on) Zoom, or however that works. ... It isn't something we should be proud that we're going to grow because we have a problem with kids having credit deficiency. We need to look for true alternatives of what is happening and the root causes."

Members of the public, many of whom were teachers donning their blue union shirts, nodded in agreement.

"I definitely do not want us to become complacent, and the objective is to create a classroom environment where the children are able to interact," said Trustee Jesus Gonzalez. "I think in-person, especially on a subject matter like English, is imperative. So as long as we're going forward with this with an immediate solution, but also keeping an open mind and trying to achieve a regular classroom."

Michael Williams, who is the senior director of secondary education, said there are four classes at West Shores High that are in need of a credentialed English teacher in the classroom: an English I class for ninth graders and three English IV classes for 12th graders.

Williams cited the teacher shortage as an ongoing issue, and Frances Esparza, assistant superintendent of educational services, added that the remote location of West Shores High makes the teacher vacancy difficult to fill.

During the public comment session, there were three comments submitted online that were read during the meeting — each one expressing dissatisfaction that Ignacio Ramirez was no longer serving as principal at West Shores High. While the comments were unrelated to the English teacher vacancy, it is clear that the location of the high school is a factor.

"I understand that we in Salton City are always the most affected," wrote Miriam Juarez. "It's very clear that we are marginalized by the location of our schools. No one wants to drive 30 or 40 minutes to get here."

Jennifer Cortez covers education in the Coachella Valley. Reach her at jennifer.cortez@desertsun.com.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: West Shores High School turns to remote teachers to fill vacancy