National teacher shortage hits locally as well, offering many challenges
Feb. 27—A teacher shortage affecting the entire nation continues to take its toll on Crawford County schools, according to local officials, and while the situation seems to have stabilized, the COVID-19 pandemic has added to what was already a challenging situation.
"I think it's going to get worse before it gets better," Crawford Central School District Superintendent Tom Washington said Friday. "There's just not enough people in the pipeline."
Ten to 15 years ago, it was common to see close to 20,000 people receive new Pennsylvania teaching certifications in a year, according to Washington. Today, the annual number is closer to 6,000.
"We do have some coverage issues at times," Superintendent Jarrin Sperry said, "but overall it's been OK this year."
Washington agreed that the situation has stabilized, but said filling vacancies for specialized positions — like a reading specialist that remains unfilled in Crawford Central — is "tough."
A move several years ago by the Pennsylvania Department of Education to loosen requirements on emergency certifications for teachers moving in from out of state has helped, as has Crawford Central's implementation of permanent substitute teachers assigned to the various buildings in the district, according to Washington.
Just as schools have seen the number of applicants for new full-time positions decline precipitously, the number of people willing to work as day-to-day substitutes has plummeted as well. By assigning a full-time sub to a building, Washington said, the district meets a predictable need with someone who is already familiar with the setting and, to some extent, the students.
Local districts have also tried to attract a larger pool of substitutes over the past two years by increasing pay for the position. Crawford Central, for instance, increased substitute pay by 25 percent in late 2021 and then by 50 percent more last summer, with the daily rate nearly doubling from $80 to $150 in the process.
PENNCREST School District raised its daily rate from $105 to $120 in late 2021 and then a few months later added $10 daily raises for subs that stay with the district for more than 45 and 90 days. A year ago, Conneaut had planned to increase starting daily pay for subs from $95 to $115 but instead set the daily rate at $150, largely in response to PENNCREST's second increase.
But for principals who wake up and immediately glance at phone screens to see what news the night's email has brought regarding the need for day-to-day substitutes, the post-pandemic supply of teachers and substitutes involves constant scrambling, according to Principal Don Wigton of Cochranton Junior-Senior High.
Friday wasn't bad, he said, with just one teacher out and the building's permanent sub available to cover those classes.
"I have her busy every day and probably could use two or three of her," Wigton said of the school's full-time substitute. "That has helped."
Other days, however, can resemble an increasingly rapid game of Tetris, as administrators check the list for the day to see which teachers can be pulled from study hall duty or in-school suspension duty for emergency coverage.
"When all else fails, I put two classes in a study hall or something," Wigton said.
Not a week goes by, he added, that the school doesn't experience multiple days with shortages. The district, he noted, has made a commitment to substitute staffing with the permanent subs at each building and increased pay, but the challenges remain.
"I don't have a solution," Wigton said. "To be honest, I don't know what else they could do that would be feasible."
Mike Crowley can be reached at (814) 724-6370 or by email at mcrowley@meadvilletribune.com.
