GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — Enjoy summer break while you can; the new school year is less than a month away.
But teacher shortages are still impacting districts across the country, including right here in northeast Wisconsin.
When it comes to the start of this school year, the Wisconsin Education Career Access Network has 96 teacher positions posted for Green Bay’s school district, and Appleton has 28 as of Monday.
Those interested in applying for a teaching position can apply online.
Appleton Area School District’s Chief Human Resources Officer, Julie King, says due to being a large district, they can fill them temporarily if no one is hired before the first day.
“Fortunately, we do have many of our staff that might be taking overload, so they might take on additional classes,” said King. “We have that flexibility and wonderful staff members who are willing to do that and take on those extra students.”
Mike Friis, Green Bay Area Public Schools’ Director of Human Resources, says Green Bay’s district follows similar guidelines when planning for this year.
“If somebody is sick or out and we don’t have maybe a substitute or have a teacher in place, how do we work with our staff to say, ‘hey, who can step up and help out in the short term’ as we navigate that,” said Friis.
Friis says typically around 100 to 150 teachers are hired every school year.
“Our numbers are tracking pretty close to last year as well as the year before,” said Friis. “As one of the largest districts in the area and in the state, we’ve got about 1,800 educators that work for us.”
Both districts say they’re especially looking for those specialized in special education.
“We are always looking for special education teachers,” said Friis. He says they’re also looking for teachers who can speak multiple languages.
“All of our classroom teachers have been covered, with exception of a couple middle school that we hope to wrap up here shortly,” said King.
The teacher shortage has prevailed more since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The last two years, more resignations than we’ve had in previous years,” said King. “But many relocating, our largest number are those staying home with their family.”
Green Bay and Appleton districts say they’re optimistic going into the first day of school, which happens to be Sept. 1 for both districts.
