SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — The California School Boards Association is holding its annual conference at the San Diego Convention Center, bringing board members from districts across the state together to discuss the future of education.
The event allows board members to share ideas about the challenges districts face and how to find solutions.
A significant topic is the worker shortage. Many districts are finding themselves short on teachers, instructional aides, bus drivers, custodians and other school staff.
“Our students will only reach their potential if we have a deep, talented pool of teachers and classified staff to instruct and guide them on their academic journey. Yet the growing teacher shortage has reached crisis proportions," said Susan Markarian from the Pacific Union Elementary School District in rural Fresno County.
The shortage is affecting schools in San Diego, as well.
“On any given day, we just don’t have the substitutes to fill the positions that are needed. So we are frequently short-staffed," said Aimee McCoy, a teacher at Mesa Verde Middle School in Rancho Peñasquitos.
She says Poway Unified School District staff work hard to overcome those challenges. “It’s just important to know and understand the people at school, the teachers, office staff, admin, bus drivers, everybody every day is putting in their full effort. But it is hard to sustain because of those shortages.”
McCoy says daily classes feel almost as they did before the pandemic, with students more comfortable this year being with their peers than the year before.
She suggested that teachers learned valuable lessons during the pandemic, including how to better use technology in the classroom and how to understand and cater to different students and how they learn best. She also says the pandemic exposed some issues which need to be addressed. “The pandemic really brought out the inequities across education, when we’re moving into a virtual learning environment, that students might not have devices or accessibility at home.”
The CSBA conferencecontinues through Saturday at the Convention Center.
