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There were times during talks to close Sheffield and Youngsville high schools that it felt the community didn't believe Warren County School District administrators when they said there was a teacher shortage.
Here we are, one year after the merger, struggling to find Spanish teachers. The Warren County School District is turning to online instruction and long-term substitutes to address a shortage of Spanish teachers at Eisenhower High School.
Gary Weber, district superintendent, said the administration would have preferred to move a teacher between the schools if the schedules could accommodate the arrangement, but doing so would have left students at Warren Area High School without teachers for other courses they needed. The board also discussed whether Eisenhower could look into another foreign language, such as French or German, as an alternative to Spanish. Weber said the district has struggled to recruit teachers certified in foreign languages. In previous years, the district has offered a variety of languages, but finding qualified teachers for those subjects has become increasingly difficult. The district is also working to help existing staff members obtain additional foreign-language certifications, administrators said.
The teacher shortage that Warren County officials have been talking about for years is no joke, and it's not just a Pennsylvania problem. As of late August, Clymer Central School in Chautauqua County was still looking for a science teacher while examining dual enrollment opportunities for chemistry students. The district was also looking at digital learning opportunities for art classes and electives as well since the school didn't have an art teacher for all grades.
WCSD officials plugged a hole in their schedule as well as could be expected on short notice, but this won't be the last time this situation rears its ugly head. Teacher shortages aren't going away anytime soon. We took a big step in Warren County by closing two schools in part because of staffing. But that big step was only the first step. The next step is finding the right mix of technology and teacher sharing to provide the courses our high school students need.