Jordyn Zerbe quietly listened to teachers complain about being underpaid and unappreciated before she decided to speak out at the Oct. 19 Pine Grove School Board meeting.
A senior at Pine Grove Area High School, Zerbe apologized to the board for not being better informed but said she felt compelled to speak out.
“All my favorite teachers are leaving,” she said, adding that she’s tired of walking into class and seeing decorations coming off the wall. “I don’t feel comfortable anymore.”
The impassioned message from a student underscored the tenor of a meeting that focused on an apparent teacher shortage in Pine Grove schools.
Like many districts, Pine Grove is experiencing difficulty in recruiting and retaining teachers.
Dave Frew, who chairs the board’s finance committee, said 18 teachers and administrators have left the district since the end of the 2022-23 school year.
The district has openings for eight certified teachers, he said. Affected classes are being taught by certified substitutes or teachers with emergency certification.
In an effort at bolstering the staff, the district proposed offering a sign-on bonus and an incentive for recruiting teachers.
The meeting’s agenda included a provision to pay a $5,000 bonus to qualified professional staff when they’re hired. Another provision would pay a $2,500 bonus for teachers on staff for recruiting a new teacher.
At the request of the Pine Grove Area Education Association, the teachers union, the school board tabled both provisions for further study.
Union members suggested the bonus money be used to raise the pay of teachers on staff rather than to recruit new teachers.
The district and the teachers union signed a four-year contract this year. A union member who addressed the board said it was ratified by a narrow margin.
During a comment period that lasted more than an hour, teachers called attention to what some said was a crisis situation.
One educator with 15 years of experience said there isn’t a teacher in the district who doesn’t feel burned out, feeling underappreciated and disrespected.
Rebecca Pugh, middle school music and chorus teacher, said the starting salary in the district where she lives is $2,000 higher than what she makes after 13 years in Pine Grove.
“We’re in a crisis,” she said. “Teachers are leaving, and more teachers are going to go.”
Kyler Burke, a high school social studies teacher, said the urgency of the situation was discussed at a recent school board workshop session.
“There’s no concrete plan in place,” he said. “Our students are suffering.”
Burke, a Pine Grove native, said he will leave the district if there is no change by June.
The board’s policy is that members do not respond to statements made during the public comment period.
Frew, a board member for about 14 years, addressed the salary issue during an interview the day after the meeting.
On average, he said, Pine Grove’s pay scale is around the middle range compared with other Schuylkill County districts.
While Pine Grove has paid down much of its debt, Frew said, the state limits how much districts can raise property taxes. This year, he said, the most Pine Grove could have raised is around $650,000.
Frew, the finance committee chair, insisted that the board negotiated in good faith.
“The economic climate we’re in affects everybody,” he said. “It’s a challenge to find a way that’s affordable to the taxpayer and the teachers.”
Source: Berkshire mont