How is FCPS teacher/staff shortage?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:107 K-6 Homeroom positions listed. Looks like many students will have long term subs starting the year.

It’s only July. A lot of positions will get filled in August.

And who are these people they are going to hire in August?

Maybe military spouses? There are lots of us coming to the DC area in July/August, although we are finding problems getting housing in Nova and having to rent further out.

Many of those teaches find positions before they move here so they can concentrate on moving and getting their own kids ready for school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:107 K-6 Homeroom positions listed. Looks like many students will have long term subs starting the year.

If your child has an actual teacher, will the spillover effects of having other kids in the school without a teacher affect them? I think my kid will have a teacher since I do a lot of volunteering, but wondering what else I should do to mitigate the situation for her.

100%

I'm a FCPS teacher. We have four 5th grade classes at my school. Only 2 of those classrooms had teachers this last school year. Only one of those rooms missing a teacher got a permanent sub and that didn't happen until after winter break.

When my kids were at PE, music, library, or art, instead of being able to use that time to return parent emails/calls and plan, I had to go into one of the other classrooms that was missing a teacher and help teach. Basically reinforce topics that students may not have fully understood under the sub. I don't know if this was standard practice at all FCPS classes without a permanent teacher, but the ones in my school without one had several quizzes each week. That's what gave us the guidelines of what the students may not have grasped from the sub.

If your kid doesn't get a permanent teacher this year, I'd fight tooth & nail to get them into a class with one. Kids in classrooms without teachers are being shortchanged. They are being promoted to the next grade wildly unprepared!

Yup. Different teacher. We did sub plans the majority of the year too and graded for a class without a teacher. It was really hard and overwhelming. In my opinion, the county should put all instructional coaches and resource teachers in classrooms so no kid has a sub. That should be the priority.

What is an instructional coach? What is a resource teacher? If a resource teacher is a specials teacher, I don't see how they can just cancel art and music classes.

Instructional Coaches are certified teachers who support instruction and teachers. They often look at data and help teams make decisions. Resource Teachers often pull reading/math groups all day. You are looking at 300 teachers not with kids all day that could help alleviate the issue by going back into the classroom.

Our school's two resource teachers are with kids all day. If you get rid of them, you are going to get sued for not meeting IEP needs

+1 Resource teachers are very hands-on and needed to help with the shortage of special education teachers and lighten the load of the other teachers. Instructional coaches could go back into the classroom but there's not that many of them to make a difference and they do a lot of the data crunching that other teachers often complain about having to do. I think instructional coaches could reasonably go to classes part-time and then do all the data work for their schools and it would work out okay. Or they could be tasked as close mentors/class supports for all the long-term subs who are teaching instead of the other full-time teachers.

There are over 100 instructional coaches in FCPS. The priority should always be the kids. If staffing is an issue, then instructional coaches should be cut. The county needs to prioritize.

I don't know--if there are a lot of underprepared long-term subs as teachers they might need instructional coaches more than ever. An instructional coach who can support the curriculum planning and teaching of 10 long-term subs might be more effective than having them teach 1 class. Maybe they can do a hybrid? I know last year, instructional coaches were often "floaters" teaching classes on an as-needed basis throughout their schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Staff shortage is pretty bad and there is no one to hire. We have a month and half a 4 person team.

I am the PP. We have two openings for a K-6 teacher and my principal has received no resumes. Not looking forward to doing sub plans again… 😢

D

P. The teacher shortage is not just an FCPS problem, it is a statewide and nationwide issue. I know that there are caps for number of students per class, but is anyone in FCPS or VDOE considering an emergency waiver so that a school that is missing some teachers could redistribute the 75 students in 2 classes instead of 3? Two classes of 35 students is better than 2 classes of 25 students and one class with no teacher, isn't it? For the students and for the teachers?

School systems will need to get creative. In Virginia, a class is defined as "a grouping of students in which they regularly receive instruction in the Standards of Learning by one or more teachers."

If more than one teacher is assigned to a class for the purposes of instructing students, each teacher can count towards meeting the student-teacher ratio and any maximum class size requirements.

They also only have to be in compliance on September 30th and March 31st. In between, they can go over the maximum. If they are out of compliance on the 9/30 and 3/31 dates, they must have a plan to come back into compliance.

Where are these second teachers coming from? That's the point. There aren't enough teachers.

Think like a business and get creative. There are ways to “game” the system to technically be below the maximum average class size. One of the most common ways is to have kids “switch” classes for core subjects. A child has a “home room” that could have above the average maximum size, but if he/she/they have math, LA, science OR social studies in a class that is smaller, the school can argue that they meet the requirements.

Approach the problem like a ruthless businessperson and you will start to see many ways schools can technically meet the requirements while still having huge class sizes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:107 K-6 Homeroom positions listed. Looks like many students will have long term subs starting the year.

If your child has an actual teacher, will the spillover effects of having other kids in the school without a teacher affect them? I think my kid will have a teacher since I do a lot of volunteering, but wondering what else I should do to mitigate the situation for her.

100%

I'm a FCPS teacher. We have four 5th grade classes at my school. Only 2 of those classrooms had teachers this last school year. Only one of those rooms missing a teacher got a permanent sub and that didn't happen until after winter break.

When my kids were at PE, music, library, or art, instead of being able to use that time to return parent emails/calls and plan, I had to go into one of the other classrooms that was missing a teacher and help teach. Basically reinforce topics that students may not have fully understood under the sub. I don't know if this was standard practice at all FCPS classes without a permanent teacher, but the ones in my school without one had several quizzes each week. That's what gave us the guidelines of what the students may not have grasped from the sub.

If your kid doesn't get a permanent teacher this year, I'd fight tooth & nail to get them into a class with one. Kids in classrooms without teachers are being shortchanged. They are being promoted to the next grade wildly unprepared!

Yup. Different teacher. We did sub plans the majority of the year too and graded for a class without a teacher. It was really hard and overwhelming. In my opinion, the county should put all instructional coaches and resource teachers in classrooms so no kid has a sub. That should be the priority.

What is an instructional coach? What is a resource teacher? If a resource teacher is a specials teacher, I don't see how they can just cancel art and music classes.

Instructional Coaches are certified teachers who support instruction and teachers. They often look at data and help teams make decisions. Resource Teachers often pull reading/math groups all day. You are looking at 300 teachers not with kids all day that could help alleviate the issue by going back into the classroom.

Our school's two resource teachers are with kids all day. If you get rid of them, you are going to get sued for not meeting IEP needs

+1 Resource teachers are very hands-on and needed to help with the shortage of special education teachers and lighten the load of the other teachers. Instructional coaches could go back into the classroom but there's not that many of them to make a difference and they do a lot of the data crunching that other teachers often complain about having to do. I think instructional coaches could reasonably go to classes part-time and then do all the data work for their schools and it would work out okay. Or they could be tasked as close mentors/class supports for all the long-term subs who are teaching instead of the other full-time teachers.

There are over 100 instructional coaches in FCPS. The priority should always be the kids. If staffing is an issue, then instructional coaches should be cut. The county needs to prioritize.

I don't know--if there are a lot of underprepared long-term subs as teachers they might need instructional coaches more than ever. An instructional coach who can support the curriculum planning and teaching of 10 long-term subs might be more effective than having them teach 1 class. Maybe they can do a hybrid? I know last year, instructional coaches were often "floaters" teaching classes on an as-needed basis throughout their schools.

Have the other teachers in the grade help them subs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Staff shortage is pretty bad and there is no one to hire. We have a month and half a 4 person team.

I am the PP. We have two openings for a K-6 teacher and my principal has received no resumes. Not looking forward to doing sub plans again… 😢

I might sound nuts but try posting the Teachers Reddit page and other groups. It’s competitive to get teaching jobs in some states. Some people might be happy to move down and start their career. The pay isn’t horrible in NoVA for a young teacher. Young people typically live with roommates no matter what their job.

I see people posting on that Reddit often about how they haven’t gotten interviews and they’re just upset. A lot of FCPS teachers came from other states. PA and NY have a lot of teachers who end up subbing for years and that doesn’t pay as well as teaching does. Of course a lot of people have no interest in relocation, but NoVA isn’t some super red state desperate for teachers. It’s still a liberal area near a fun city and there’s plenty of young people. You might be able to find some new grads who aren't getting interviews in their home states who would be willing to give VA a try. I think you can start teaching in VA with an out of state teaching license while you work on the requirements for the VA one.

Just a thought! Some new teachers don’t even know where to look outside of their home area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How many special education openings are there county-wide?

I counted 135 (special education, preschool autism, multiple disabilities, emotional disabilities, etc.).

I did not count all of the IA positions (autism, Cat A, Cat B), public health attendants.

https://careers.fcps.edu/vl/vacancy.htm

How many total special education teachers are there in FCPS? Trying to get a sense for the actual scope of this problem. If there are 10,000 special education teachers, than 135 openings is nothing to be worried about.

135 openings means a heck of a lot when you're the parent of a child with a disability and your kid's teacher is an untrained sub.
There are 198 schools in FCPS. Assuming 3-5 sped teachers per school (give or take), you're looking at a total of 600-1000 sped teachers total. Not 10,000 or anywhere close to it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Staff shortage is pretty bad and there is no one to hire. We have a month and half a 4 person team.

I am the PP. We have two openings for a K-6 teacher and my principal has received no resumes. Not looking forward to doing sub plans again… 😢

D

P. The teacher shortage is not just an FCPS problem, it is a statewide and nationwide issue. I know that there are caps for number of students per class, but is anyone in FCPS or VDOE considering an emergency waiver so that a school that is missing some teachers could redistribute the 75 students in 2 classes instead of 3? Two classes of 35 students is better than 2 classes of 25 students and one class with no teacher, isn't it? For the students and for the teachers?

School systems will need to get creative. In Virginia, a class is defined as "a grouping of students in which they regularly receive instruction in the Standards of Learning by one or more teachers."

If more than one teacher is assigned to a class for the purposes of instructing students, each teacher can count towards meeting the student-teacher ratio and any maximum class size requirements.

They also only have to be in compliance on September 30th and March 31st. In between, they can go over the maximum. If they are out of compliance on the 9/30 and 3/31 dates, they must have a plan to come back into compliance.

Where are these second teachers coming from? That's the point. There aren't enough teachers.

Think like a business and get creative. There are ways to “game” the system to technically be below the maximum average class size. One of the most common ways is to have kids “switch” classes for core subjects. A child has a “home room” that could have above the average maximum size, but if he/she/they have math, LA, science OR social studies in a class that is smaller, the school can argue that they meet the requirements.

Approach the problem like a ruthless businessperson and you will start to see many ways schools can technically meet the requirements while still having huge class sizes.

This only works if you have enough FTE teachers per total students enrolled. You have to have the numbers there for the law. You can switch actual class sizes up in different ways within that number by switching classes, having pull-out groups etc, but if in your school you don't have x teachers per y students enrolled there's no way to game that.

[Anonymous]

Maybe they should drop the requirement of having a college degree like they did in Arizona. I’m sure that brought in some warm bodies to babysit the kiddos.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:107 K-6 Homeroom positions listed. Looks like many students will have long term subs starting the year.

If your child has an actual teacher, will the spillover effects of having other kids in the school without a teacher affect them? I think my kid will have a teacher since I do a lot of volunteering, but wondering what else I should do to mitigate the situation for her.

100%

I'm a FCPS teacher. We have four 5th grade classes at my school. Only 2 of those classrooms had teachers this last school year. Only one of those rooms missing a teacher got a permanent sub and that didn't happen until after winter break.

When my kids were at PE, music, library, or art, instead of being able to use that time to return parent emails/calls and plan, I had to go into one of the other classrooms that was missing a teacher and help teach. Basically reinforce topics that students may not have fully understood under the sub. I don't know if this was standard practice at all FCPS classes without a permanent teacher, but the ones in my school without one had several quizzes each week. That's what gave us the guidelines of what the students may not have grasped from the sub.

If your kid doesn't get a permanent teacher this year, I'd fight tooth & nail to get them into a class with one. Kids in classrooms without teachers are being shortchanged. They are being promoted to the next grade wildly unprepared!

Yup. Different teacher. We did sub plans the majority of the year too and graded for a class without a teacher. It was really hard and overwhelming. In my opinion, the county should put all instructional coaches and resource teachers in classrooms so no kid has a sub. That should be the priority.

What is an instructional coach? What is a resource teacher? If a resource teacher is a specials teacher, I don't see how they can just cancel art and music classes.

Instructional Coaches are certified teachers who support instruction and teachers. They often look at data and help teams make decisions. Resource Teachers often pull reading/math groups all day. You are looking at 300 teachers not with kids all day that could help alleviate the issue by going back into the classroom.

Our school's two resource teachers are with kids all day. If you get rid of them, you are going to get sued for not meeting IEP needs

+1 Resource teachers are very hands-on and needed to help with the shortage of special education teachers and lighten the load of the other teachers. Instructional coaches could go back into the classroom but there's not that many of them to make a difference and they do a lot of the data crunching that other teachers often complain about having to do. I think instructional coaches could reasonably go to classes part-time and then do all the data work for their schools and it would work out okay. Or they could be tasked as close mentors/class supports for all the long-term subs who are teaching instead of the other full-time teachers.

There are over 100 instructional coaches in FCPS. The priority should always be the kids. If staffing is an issue, then instructional coaches should be cut. The county needs to prioritize.

I don't know--if there are a lot of underprepared long-term subs as teachers they might need instructional coaches more than ever. An instructional coach who can support the curriculum planning and teaching of 10 long-term subs might be more effective than having them teach 1 class. Maybe they can do a hybrid? I know last year, instructional coaches were often "floaters" teaching classes on an as-needed basis throughout their schools.

Have the other teachers in the grade help them subs.

They do that too and it's a big lift to ask another teacher who likely is already handling more than usual.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Staff shortage is pretty bad and there is no one to hire. We have a month and half a 4 person team.

I am the PP. We have two openings for a K-6 teacher and my principal has received no resumes. Not looking forward to doing sub plans again… 😢

D

P. The teacher shortage is not just an FCPS problem, it is a statewide and nationwide issue. I know that there are caps for number of students per class, but is anyone in FCPS or VDOE considering an emergency waiver so that a school that is missing some teachers could redistribute the 75 students in 2 classes instead of 3? Two classes of 35 students is better than 2 classes of 25 students and one class with no teacher, isn't it? For the students and for the teachers?

School systems will need to get creative. In Virginia, a class is defined as "a grouping of students in which they regularly receive instruction in the Standards of Learning by one or more teachers."

If more than one teacher is assigned to a class for the purposes of instructing students, each teacher can count towards meeting the student-teacher ratio and any maximum class size requirements.

They also only have to be in compliance on September 30th and March 31st. In between, they can go over the maximum. If they are out of compliance on the 9/30 and 3/31 dates, they must have a plan to come back into compliance.

Where are these second teachers coming from? That's the point. There aren't enough teachers.

Think like a business and get creative. There are ways to “game” the system to technically be below the maximum average class size. One of the most common ways is to have kids “switch” classes for core subjects. A child has a “home room” that could have above the average maximum size, but if he/she/they have math, LA, science OR social studies in a class that is smaller, the school can argue that they meet the requirements.

Approach the problem like a ruthless businessperson and you will start to see many ways schools can technically meet the requirements while still having huge class sizes.

To what end? So the parents can complain, the kid’s behavior get worse and be subjected to poor schooling? I’m not understanding whether you are trolling and trying to prove a point that schools can’t be run like a business or if you are genuine in your question

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Staff shortage is pretty bad and there is no one to hire. We have a month and half a 4 person team.

I am the PP. We have two openings for a K-6 teacher and my principal has received no resumes. Not looking forward to doing sub plans again… 😢

D

P. The teacher shortage is not just an FCPS problem, it is a statewide and nationwide issue. I know that there are caps for number of students per class, but is anyone in FCPS or VDOE considering an emergency waiver so that a school that is missing some teachers could redistribute the 75 students in 2 classes instead of 3? Two classes of 35 students is better than 2 classes of 25 students and one class with no teacher, isn't it? For the students and for the teachers?

School systems will need to get creative. In Virginia, a class is defined as "a grouping of students in which they regularly receive instruction in the Standards of Learning by one or more teachers."

If more than one teacher is assigned to a class for the purposes of instructing students, each teacher can count towards meeting the student-teacher ratio and any maximum class size requirements.

They also only have to be in compliance on September 30th and March 31st. In between, they can go over the maximum. If they are out of compliance on the 9/30 and 3/31 dates, they must have a plan to come back into compliance.

Where are these second teachers coming from? That's the point. There aren't enough teachers.

Think like a business and get creative. There are ways to “game” the system to technically be below the maximum average class size. One of the most common ways is to have kids “switch” classes for core subjects. A child has a “home room” that could have above the average maximum size, but if he/she/they have math, LA, science OR social studies in a class that is smaller, the school can argue that they meet the requirements.

Approach the problem like a ruthless businessperson and you will start to see many ways schools can technically meet the requirements while still having huge class sizes.

To what end? So the parents can complain, the kid’s behavior get worse and be subjected to poor schooling? I’m not understanding whether you are trolling and trying to prove a point that schools can’t be run like a business or if you are genuine in your question

I’m only trying to open up parents eyes. This is actually how administrators are forced to approach the problem when they do not have enough teachers. Do they want to do this? No. No one got into teaching for this. But when you are facing a state-mandated requirement that is proving impossible to meet, administrators have to great creative.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe they should drop the requirement of having a college degree like they did in Arizona. I’m sure that brought in some warm bodies to babysit the kiddos.

I think a college degree should be enough. Allow for on-the-job training and provisional license.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe they should drop the requirement of having a college degree like they did in Arizona. I’m sure that brought in some warm bodies to babysit the kiddos.

I think a college degree should be enough. Allow for on-the-job training and provisional license.

This is what they already do. But where are they going to get the staff for on-the-job training? And you still need to get people who have some experience with children or you are going to have really problematic situations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think things will be better. There will be too much. To do and not enough time. Admin will continue to expect more and the stress of trying to do it all and being dinged when you can’t will burn us out.

With all of the meetings and requirements before school starts and through September, I’ve been starting off recent school years already behind.

We just received an email listing 11 online trainings that need to be completed by the end of September. Hoo-ray.

2 Teachers

I only have 10 online trainings! Am I being denied some super fun?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think things will be better. There will be too much. To do and not enough time. Admin will continue to expect more and the stress of trying to do it all and being dinged when you can’t will burn us out.

With all of the meetings and requirements before school starts and through September, I’ve been starting off recent school years already behind.

We just received an email listing 11 online trainings that need to be completed by the end of September. Hoo-ray.

2 Teachers

I only have 10 online trainings! Am I being denied some super fun?

I have 10 too, but the stupid kognito one doesn’t even work. I went through the rigamarole of creating a separate account and filling out my profile, only for it to display, “that training is not available”. Lol, of course it’s not.