SLO County schools struggle with teacher, labor shortage as classes begin
Curt Eichperger’s presentation to Atascadero Unified School District trustees during their Aug. 17 meeting drew audible gasps from the board members.
Eichperger, the assistant superintendent of human resources at the North County school district, was talking about how more than 15% of the district’s staff, 99 employees, had been hired by his team that summer — many of them in just the last month.
“When we think of the hiring, it has been nonstop since June,” he said at the Aug. 17 meeting. “And we’re still hiring, so if you know anyone that is an electrician that wants to work for a school district, or wants to drive a bus, or work and support special education, or wants to be a teacher. We still have vacancies.”
The Atascadero school district wasn’t alone in its school teacher and staff shortage.
It’s a statewide problem that has hit San Luis Obispo County districts particularly hard this year as dozens of educators retired early or took jobs in other sectors amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Districts such as Lucia Mar Unified, San Luis Coastal Unified and Paso Robles Joint Unified put the pedal to the metal this summer in their urgent needs to hire teachers and staff.
At the end of the 2020-21 school year, Lucia Mar had a total of 105 employees leave the district for various reasons including retirement, contracts expiring and resignation. That’s up from 83 the previous year.
San Luis Coastal has hired 131 new employees this year, which district Director of Human Resources Dan Block said was “definitely more hires across the board” compared to previous years.
Jen Gaviola, deputy superintendent at the Paso Robles school district, said attrition at the district has increased “20 to 25%” this year.
“It’s been an interesting experience over these last 18 months, and I think people have made life changes and life choices that are different, and it worked for them,” Gaviola said. “And we’re just one part of that. Every business is seeing that.”
Retirements, resignations leave districts scrambling to hire employees
Districts were hiring teachers to fill classrooms right up to the start of the school year, and even after it started.
“What I can say, and this is disheartening for me to say, is we did have to start with substitute teachers this year,” Eichperger said at the Aug. 17 meeting. “That is the first time since my tenure in this position that we’ve had to do it.”
The Atascadero district had five vacant certificated teacher positions open when classes began on Aug. 18, he said.
It’s hard to hire staff so late in the game, said Ryan Pinkerton, assistant superintendent of business and support services at San Luis Coastal.
“Normally, a lot of hiring starts in February,” he said. “Then, some people left at the end of the year, plus more retirements ... so most of our hiring got pushed into the summer.”
Providing an incentive for employees and other school employees to come to San Luis Obispo County isn’t always the easiest task.
School administrators said the aesthetics of the area can quickly be outweighed by the high home prices and cost of living.
“Unfortunately, we have had a number of individuals that once they start looking at either housing availability or housing costs, they choose not to come to our area,” Eichperger said during the Aug. 17 Atascadero board meeting. “And unfortunately, there’s an even bigger elephant in the room when they start looking at pay scale and district health and welfare contributions.”
San Luis Obispo County teachers were paid an average of between $67,140 to $75,713 in the 2019-20 school year, the most recent data available from the California Department of Education.
Statewide, the average was $84,531, according to the Department of Education.
COVID-19 relief funds bolster support systems in schools
To fill those hard-to-find positions, districts such as Paso Robles Joint Unified have offered increased stipends for special education teachers and an added dual immersion stipend for those who teach bilingual classes.
An influx of COVID-19 relief funds from the state and federal government has helped districts offer these kinds of incentives, as well as pushed them to hire even more support staff than they usually do.
Those funds — local districts received millions of dollars in the spring — are targeted, one-time monies that must go to helping with learning loss brought about by distance learning as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
To do that, districts are hiring more staff to bolster what they call a “multi-tiered system of support.”
Essentially, districts focus on hiring paraeducators, counselors and other staff who aren’t necessarily teachers but who add another layer of support for students.
It’s something districts have slowly built over the years, but with the COVID-19 relief funds from the government, they now have the money to build the system.
“For years — because we didn’t have the financial assets to really focus on that — you have this beautiful system of support, but you only have so many people to do it,” Gaviola said. “So now, for the first time in a very long time, we’re able to have the different layers of people and really prioritize the academic and social-emotional needs of our students.”
Gaviola said it’s like making lemonade out of lemons — although districts wish students didn’t so desperately need the extra help due to learning loss from distance learning, they’re finding the extra funds to allow them a chance to experiment with the new system.
The funds will run out, however, by the end of 2023. So, districts will have to evaluate whether they can uphold these support systems without the added money.
“We’re really going to have to look at what’s working; what do we need to prioritize,” Pinkerton said. “When it comes down to it, though, we’re really investing in the kids, trying to get them where they need to be. So I know that’s always going to be the priority.”
This story was originally published August 24, 2021 at 12:56 PM.
