Staffing concerns as new school year approaches
Children in communities throughout the Coachella Valley are preparing to start the 2022-2023 school year. However, schools in all three districts are still struggling to find enough teachers and other support personnel.
Local Control and Accountability Plans released by DSUSD, PSUSD, CVUSD show an ongoing staff shortage is making it hard to fill all open positions for the upcoming school year.
“We’re still actively recruiting and some of those positions already have been interviewed for, we’re just making the offers,” said Tony Signoret, Ed.D., Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources at Palm Springs Unified School District.
As of Friday July 29, PSUSD had 13 vacancies, while CVUSD had 30.
DSUSD had 46 certificated vacancies, according to Edjoin.org, which is an online hiring portal where job openings are listed.
School leaders are having difficulty recruiting for core subjects like math, science, and English.
“English teachers at the secondary level are what we’re finding that it is more difficult to hire for those positions. Why? we’re not exactly sure," said Luis Valentino, Ed.D., Superintendent at Coachella Valley Unified School District.
There has also been trouble bringing in speech and language pathology candidates, however, there has been some progress in other areas.
“Of particular note, is the 37 new special education teachers that we’re bringing in,” said Tony Signoret, Ed.D., Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources at Palm Springs Unified School District.
Staffing changes are also at the administrative level.
“We're very excited in Desert Sands to be welcoming several new principals to our schools. We currently have hired four new principals and we have a few more that will be hiring this summer," said Kelly May-Vollmar, Ed.D., Superintendent at Desert Sands Unified School District.
Both DSUSD and CVUSD noted a substitute teacher shortage in their LCAP reports.
“This year we will have more substitute teachers than we did in the past. Because of Covid, what happened at the beginning of the year, every substitute teacher was just assigned and they were long term and so we did not have substitutes to come in when teachers were out. But now we have a larger pool," said Luis Valentino, Ed.D., Superintendent at Coachella Valley Unified School District.
Outside the classroom, a need for drivers has reduced school bus routes. Leaders, however, say students will still get to and from school.
Tune into News Channel 3 at 6:45 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. for more on at how all three districts in the Coachella Valley are coping with ongoing staffing shortages.
