Agnes J. Johnson School Forced to Close Temporarily Due to Staffing Shortages Highlighted by Ongoing Pandemic
Agnes J Johnson Elementary School in Weott [Photo from their Facebook page when it was a state school]
Although the charter school is dealing with a couple of COVID cases within the school, the closure is primarily due to the lack of substitute teachers available in our area as well as an ongoing teacher shortage felt by school districts across California.
“We’re not closed because there was an outbreak of COVID. We’re closed because there were a couple of cases and we don’t have the space in our faculty to be out anybody. …We’ve been desperately looking, trying to get subs for quite awhile,” stated Mary Halstead, President of the AJJ School Board.
The state shortages started as the state came out of The Great Recession of ‘07 – ‘09, when declining tax revenue resulted in salary cuts and a loss of jobs, along with declining working conditions for state educators. Many teachers that leave their positions, do so for reasons other than retirement. Although states nationwide are working to alleviate the shortages with increased salaries and incentives for potential educators, college enrollment for education programs has fallen 68% since 2001.
Due to the lack of qualified, available teachers, districts are being forced to rely on under-qualified, emergency credentialed and substitute teachers to fill the gaps – often still coming up short.
AJJ is currently short two teachers in addition to a bus driver and a one-on-one resource aide. The shortage, coupled with staff needing to stay at home with their children exposed to COVID at another school site, means that there’s simply not enough staff to keep the school open this week. “Our site, because ..our staff is so small to begin with, any time someone’s out, it’s kind of a scramble to figure out a sub,” Halstead explained.
The closure should not affect the students’ spring break.
If you are a teacher, substitute teacher, bus driver or aid looking for employment, please contact Agnes J. Johnson School at 707-946-2347.
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wow!
Even our own city folks don’t care if your kids become illiterate shut-ins. of course, they’re very old, just like the people who run the country.
“Due to the lack of qualified, available teachers, districts are being forced to rely on under-qualified, emergency credentialed and substitute teachers to fill the gaps – often still coming up short.“
This- coupled with a 6% withdrawal rate, is why California schools are failing… extreme vax and mask mandates don’t help either. Just my opinion
It’s a nationwide issue, not specific to California. Has been for a number of years. For a number of reasons.
edited to add:
My son is a career Marine. His plan, 9 years out is to become a substitute teacher. When he told me that, all I could say was “Who are you and what did you do with my son!?”. He hated school.
Funny how that works out. I was OK in school. Wanted to teach college lit. Went a different direction. My wife was, well, not the school type. Ended up in education. What is it they say, if you don’t do well in school, you’ll be there forever? Something like that.
Maybe. I’d love to keep taking classes at a university (graduated decades ago), but I live too far away to do that. Also, found that fishing paid a lot more than teaching, working as an historian for the BLM or at the University Marine Science Center. Loved that job. I generally LOL at people who grouse at the “overpaid” government employees.
Which comes around to the teacher shortage in the country. Underappreciated, villainized or scapegoated even. Who would want to do that?
In well over half of the states (went and checked, it’s 40 states), the highest paid public employee is a college football or basketball coach. Or NH, it’s a college hockey coach. 🙁
Maybe we should not be cannibalizing the public school system with charter schools. Critical mass is useful for things like sports, drama and staying open. There is a reason the school board felt the students would be best served by consolidating AJJ.
Please explain to me how 40 students in one class has proven really successful for SHUSD? Consolidating AJJ was one of the worst decision the district could have done.
The issue is the mask and vaccine mandates, as well as what is now considered a “true exposure”. If the county would wake up and allow the school to operate effectively this closure would not have needed to happen. Unfortunately, due to police nonsense our kids are now suffering.
I hear you Mr m. AJJ was not approved to charter because the forcast was not enough teachers, subs, aids, bus service. That was known before the pandemic. Unfortunately the greedy hcoe, overruled and allowed the separation of AJJ from other schools in the district, thus selfishly taking from the other schools. I hope any qualified individuals would work for the other area schools who did not abandon their peers.
You are misinformed.
AJJ is a PUBLIC Charter School.
It is really no different than another district now… Its own district. And as stated by another commenter already; the district has the same shortage in staffing issues. 40 kids in a class…. consolidation would have added to the strain there as well…
This has been an off and on problem for several years now. Seems that maybe they could bus the students to the schools in Miranda, but they are having the same problem. I pray that someone will come up with a solution to put and end to this mess.
AI is the solution.
Who is Al?
AI is short for Artificial Intelligence.
Thanks Kim!
A lot of subs might have moved out because they can’t find a reasonably priced rental. And gas is expensive. Just like everywhere else in California. You might have to do what some Santa Cruz businesses had to do years ago. Build staff housing on grounds if you want workers.
Yup mean while employees that show up everyday suffer now because of the closer. Started out good!