School districts are finding ways to work around teacher shortages

Students are returning to class this week, but in some districts may not have a teacher when they get there

COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI)- Students are returning to class this week, but in some districts may not have a teacher when they get there.

Like many others, the Columbus Municipal School District is facing a teacher and staff shortage. The district recently published a flyer showing 26 vacancies, including teachers, bus drivers, and cafeteria staff.

Superintendent Dr. Cherie Labat said they’re working to fill the vacancies, but it may not happen before school starts Friday, August 5, 2022.

Teachers find new ways to teach old lessons to students, but it’s hard to do that when there’s not enough staff. Positions are vacant from their central office down to their sales and transportation. Labat said it’s not just her district but they definitely see the impact.

“One and three school districts in the state of Mississippi has a critical shortage of teachers. I don’t know what would have happened if we did not get the pay raise but we are definitely feeling what was discussed for many years in the state of Mississippi across the area in the Columbus Municipal School District,” said Labat.

She believes there’s an underlying reason.

“Teachers have had the hardest two years of their career in the profession overall not just teachers but administrators overall dealing with the social and emotional needs of students, themselves and their families and dealing with rising prices,” said Labat.

It’s not like that all around though; in Monroe County, they’re fortunate enough not have a teacher shortage; however, superintendent Chad O’Brian knows the struggle when it comes to finding math teachers.

“All of our certified positions are filled, I think what you run into with our district and really any district is certain certification. The certification can be challenging to come by and when you’re in the math field like that if you take those advanced level classes like that you probably set up career-wise to make more money,” said O’Brian.

Dr. Labat said she’s working to get new teachers and staff in, but he’s doing what she can to take care of the ones she has in the house already.

“We have a teacher advisory council so I hear these things regularly, once a month we’re allowing them to have unstructured time to do the things that they need. I think we need to give them more time than once a month I think that it should be four times a month we’ll probably be putting that forward for the board next year,” said Labat.

Dr. Labat tells WCBI that until spots are filled, they will have to put students in other classes until a teacher can fill that role. They’ll also look into online platforms for some of the math classes to make sure students don’t fall behind.