Members of the Reading School District teachers and support professionals unions say they may have solutions to the districtwide staff shortages.
Lack of adequate staffing has left certified teachers, aides and other professionals scrambling and some students underserved, the unions say.
Kimberly Jones, president of the Reading Educational Support Professionals, and Rebecca Titus, president of the Reading Educational Association, outlined the union members’ concerns and suggested remedies during the public comment period at the school board meeting Wednesday.
“It is our strong desire to continue to work with the leadership of the Reading School District to provide the best possible education and outcomes for the students that we serve,” Jones said, before introducing Titus.
Titus read a letter to the school board that was drafted with input from members of both unions.
Roughly 100 teaching positions and 150 support positions are unfilled, leaving the faculty and other professional staff stretched thin, according to the letter.
It is not just teachers, Titus said, noting the shortage extends to school counselors, social workers and nurses, who are further burdened by state requirements related to the pandemic.
There are countless examples of faculty and other staff being called away from their duties to cover shortages in other departments, Titus said.
Due to the district’s staff shortages, the unions’ letter said, students with individualized education plans or other special needs may not be receiving adequate services.
“The reality is simple,” Titus read. “We are experiencing increased employee demand with sharply reduced employee supply. Many students are going without, which is unacceptable.”
The remaining faculty and staff are committed to the students and the district, Titus said, but are faced with the challenging task of working harder while trying to compensate for the large number of openings.
The district acknowledges there is a staff shortage, Jesse Leisawitz, chief legal officer for the district, said in a phone call Thursday.
The dearth of certified teachers and support staff is not unique to the Reading School District.
The entire country is in the midst of a teacher shortage, a problem that includes not just full-time faculty, but also substitute teachers.
The inadequacy of professional staff stretches back several years but has been exacerbated by the COVID pandemic.
“It is the same shortage experienced with every other school district,” Leisawitz said, “and I think the urban districts are feeling it harder and faster than others.”
The letter read by Titus also outlined possible solutions proposed by members of the two unions.
These included hiring more qualified educators and support staff, helping to fill scheduling gaps by offering additional hours to current support staff and increasing pay rates.
Leisawitz said the district already is addressing the situation with “a big bucket of things” and plans are in the works for even more recruitment and retention incentives.
These include a $1,000 retention bonus paid to existing staff at the end of last year, he said, and a $450 bonus approved by the school board at Wednesday’s meeting for new recruits.
The district also has agreed to pay for support staff certification training and to offer commercial driver’s license training in Spanish as a way of helping remove what could be financial and language barriers for some applicants.
The district already built three half-day Fridays into its fall calendar, Leisawitz said, and is planning another three to four for the remaining months of the school year.
Early student dismissal on select Fridays gives teachers time to craft quality lessons, complete paperwork, plan with co-workers and address other tasks that cannot be attended to due to the overstretching of staff, according to the unions’ letter.
“We are requesting the board do something quickly,” Jones said. “Please know that we are more than willing to sit and meet with the board to discuss the solutions outlined in the letter.”
Dr. Noahleen Betts, school board president, thanked Jones and Titus on behalf of the board for all they and other staff and administrators do daily for the health, safety and welfare of the district students.
“We thank you very much,” Betts said, “and thank you for taking the time to come and speak to us tonight.”
Source: Berkshire mont
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