(WIS) Still feeling the effects of the pandemic, many school districts across South Carolina are coping with teacher shortages.
To address its shortage, Kershaw County School District held a teacher recruitment fair on Friday and interviewed around 15 qualified applicants.
Dr. Lisan Shannon, Kershaw County School District’s Director for Educator Services, said Friday’s fair wasn’t even the district’s main recruitment event but was important to host because they’ve faced shortages all year long.
“In the past, you could wait till the spring to do most of your heavy recruiting,” she said. “Right now it’s ongoing. You know, it’s nonstop right now. We do as much as we can as feverishly as we can.”
Shannon said the district has 10 vacancies right now, two of which are in elementary positions — which is rare.
However, with nearly 10,000 students, she said they’re not seeing as severe a shortage as other local school districts – some of which have upwards of 25,000 students.
Shannon believes health concern is a driving factor leading some Kershaw County School District teachers to retire, move or find jobs in other fields.
“Some of our teachers that have experienced COVID are still having issues from that, health issues from that, or family issues,” she said. “So that probably right now would be the top of the list for me as far as teachers either not coming back or leaving at this point.”
She also said “the usual factors” that come with teacher shortages are also at play, including money and benefits.
A recent statewide survey from SC-TEACHER, a group that studies teacher recruitment and retention, looked at the reasons why 220 Midlands teachers across five school districts left their jobs.
It found the top reason teacher cited for leaving their jobs – specifically related to the pandemic – was a lack of support from their local school board.
That was followed by 38 percent who felt they weren’t effectively reaching their students and 36 percent who detailed a lack of support from the broader community.
“About covid, it exacerbated some frustrations that were already there,’ Dr. Tommy Hodges, University of South Carolina College of Education Interim Dean Dr. Tommy Hodges said when presenting the findings to the Education Oversight Committee last month.
“You’re already looking at teachers that were maybe a little bit burned out, and so we see the emotional burnout of teachers really being exacerbated by COVID,” he added.
Despite the pandemic pushing teachers away from the profession, Magdalyn Darden, a student at the UofSC College of Education, says she’s ready to cultivate the next generation of bold thinkers.
“Both of my parents are actually educators at Coastal Carolina University, and I have seen the betterment that they have given their students,” she said. “And I think it’s important that there are teachers out there that want to give their students useful information for their future academically and just in life.”
Shannon said the district’s major recruiting fair will take place in January. The goal of Friday’s event, she said, was to attract some December college graduates to join Kershaw County School District’s staff.
