Local staffing shortages less than anticipated
STAMFORD — For some Connecticut school districts, the expected COVID-19 staffing crisis hit hard. But for others, the predicted mass exodus of teachers didn’t pan out.
In Bridgeport, for example, staffing shortages have been a chronic problem, tied to the city’s financial situation. In wealthier cities and towns such as Greenwich, Stamford and New Canaan, the situation is not nearly as worrisome.
But that doesn’t mean those districts didn’t face challenges of their own.
Bryan Luizzi, the superintendent of New Canaan schools, said some specific content areas and positions, such as special education and world languages, remain difficult to fill.
With COVID-19 still affecting daily life, the prospect of being in a classroom all day is a tough sell for some prospective teachers and educators. Luizzi said that’s reduced the number of applicants, which all school districts are competing for.
“The pool of candidates was never deep, but in this environment, it’s no more than a puddle,” he said.
For districts like Bridgeport, competing for applicants is especially difficult,
as other school districts in the state offer greater compensation.
Superintendent Michael Testani said this week that the district was still losing educators: more affluent communities are poaching teachers from low-paying and rural districts.
“We’re getting people resigning today, and it’s all because of salaries,” he said Wednesday. “As much as you love it here, how are you going to support your family?”
The think tank Rand Corporation recently put out a report indicating that an expected pandemic staffing crisis didn’t happen across the country. The level of resignations and retirements was actually similar to pre-pandemic numbers, according to the report.
But the report also found that large attrition rates that were expected this year could still happen, particularly at the top positions across school districts. One in 10 superintendents nationwide is expected to leave their position in spring 2022, according to the report.
And some school districts are funding some new positions with federal COVID-19 relief funds, which run for only a few years. Many districts are anticipating a fiscal cliff once that money runs out, their administrations have said.
Other districts are changing their hiring protocols in hopes of getting in front of the trend.
Chris Soules, the human resources director for Stamford schools, said the district implemented an earlyhire initiative this year. Typically, officials wait until internal transfers are completed before putting out job listings for open positions. But that means the hiring season gets delayed, and potential new hires get snatched up before listings are posted online, he said.
This year, the district identified some positions they typically need to fill and started conducting interviews with applicants much earlier in the process.
Soules said the plan worked.
“I think that’s an example of ‘we were kind of thinking this could be a difficult hiring season, so let’s start this process a little earlier,’” he said.
He said the district had nearly 70 openings more than a week ago. He said compared with last year, the district was “significantly ahead” in terms of hiring.
By this week, about 160 new employees had been hired. The previous year, the district had 34 new hires at the same time.
In Stamford, one of the main challenges has been filling special education para-educator, or para, positions. Up until recently, the district had about 20 openings. That was straining para-educator positions elsewhere, as the district will enter the new school year with a much-reduced kindergarten para-educator staff, as the special-education para hires were prioritized.
Soules said the district is making a special effort to fill those roles, but is encountering challenges.
“We have situations where we have offers out to people and they’re declining,” he said. “We don’t know why.”
Jonathan Supranowitz, spokesperson for Greenwich
schools, said the district has done well with hiring and filling empty spots.
“One of our priorities during the summer is to fill openings created at the end of each school year,” he wrote in an email. “We have found that Greenwich Public Schools continue to be an attractive destination for educators. We are proud of the fact that our doors safely remained open for inperson learning all of last year.”
Luizzi, who heads the Southern Fairfield County Superintendents Association, said New Canaan schools didn’t experience a huge loss in teachers due to retirements, but there was more turnover than expected. And filling the roles that were left vacant has been more challenging than in years past.
About 33 new teachers have been hired for the roughly 425-teacher school district, he said. Educators are not just coming from Connecticut, but from as far away as Texas and Tennessee, he said.
“The pool is broader than it has been,” he said.
Finding substitute teachers has also been a challenge, which school districts across the state have also faced. In New Canaan, there may have been 100 substitutes in years past, but today, that number is closer to 30, he said.
“It’s just challenging to find people who are ready, willing and qualified to come into the district,” Luizzi said.
For Luizzi, getting more applicants involves pitching people on the idea of teaching as a profession, especially since some are being dissuaded from going into it.
“We think that teaching is the most important job on the planet,” he said, later adding, “If people are thinking of going into teaching, I’d love to get a few more people to consider it.”