This article by Christine Benedetti first appeared on Aspen Daily News, November 7, 2021.
As the superintendent for the Aspen School District, David Baugh is busy. Getting certified to be a school bus driver wasn’t on his list for the school year, but that’s exactly what he’s doing.
“When your superintendent is driving buses, you have a problem,” he said.
Bus drivers are just one of more than two dozen vacant positions in the Aspen School District, exemplifying a national staffing shortage in schools. In the local district, there are vacancies for substitute teachers, food service workers, counselors, sports coaches, mechanics, administration staff and a custodian.
The ripple effects from these open positions is being felt by everyone, said Aspen Education Association President Stephanie Nixon. AEA is a teacher’s union representing roughly half of the school district’s staff.
“Everyone is being asked to do more with no more compensation,” Nixon said.
Because of the substitute-teacher shortage, teachers are having to forsake their planning periods to cover for other teachers. Currently the district is having trouble finding subs almost every day, Baugh said.
“That affects every classroom,” he said. “The continuation of instruction is affected negatively.”
It doesn’t stop there. The food services program hasn’t been able to find enough employees, and food options in the high school have been limited because of it. Two separate temp agencies are helping to staff the food department so that the quality of food service remains consistent.
The low number of bus drivers was one reason the school district switched to a split schedule this year, with elementary students starting school at 8 a.m. and middle and high school students at 8:45 a.m. That gives the same driver enough time to run the route twice, with the same 45-minute split at the end of the day. It’s created issues for parents and teachers, with many having to get creative with after-school child care options.
There are a number of reasons for the shortages, including pay, stress and flexibility, Nixon said.
“We’ve had a number of teachers who have either left teaching for higher-paying jobs or teaching positions or for [lower-paying] jobs in the district that are less stressful and more flexible,” she said.
Starting salary for teachers in the Aspen School District is $43,000, according to the district website.
There is no exact number of vacancies, said Baugh and Nixon, because it fluctuates daily. But there are 24 job listings on the district’s website, many of which are part-time. Both agreed that the students and their education have remained a priority for the district, students and staff.
And of course, there is the pandemic. Thirty-two percent of members surveyed by the National Education Association in June said they were leaving the profession earlier than expected because of the effects of COVID-19 on the education system.
This week, Baugh is attending a national conference for school superintendents. He said the No. 1 topic there is the staffing shortage.
“Nobody has an answer… and if they have it, no one is sharing it,” he said.
The Aspen School District has gone as far as offering staff a $3,000 referral bonus, but so far no one has participated.
Nixon said she’d like to see the district do more active recruiting at job fairs. The AEA also would like the state education department to reexamine some of the strict substitute laws that could encourage more people into the classroom.
“Obviously you need to pass fingerprinting and background testing, but how many credits do you need to have? Can we look at getting more people into the schools who may be good but don’t currently meet the state of Colorado’s guidelines on what a good teacher looks like?” asked Marnie White, AEA’s vice president.
It’s also about climate and culture within the district and the community, said Nixon and White. Earlier this week, the district board approved an update on a climate and culture survey. In the survey two years ago, 55% of respondents disagreed or strongly disagreed with the district’s senior leadership being “relied upon to do the right thing even when it’s challenging or difficult.”
Since then, the district leadership has changed significantly, with a new superintendent, chief financial officer, human resources director and principals in the elementary and middle schools.
In the United States, there are currently 10.4 million job openings, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, yet the number of unemployed has dropped to 7.7 million.
“It’s kind of bleak right now,” Baugh said.