Kentucky school district has plan to address teacher shortage

SCOTT COUNTY, Ky. (WKYT) - Scott County school leaders say they have a plan to try to address their teacher shortage.

“We’ve got right now six openings during the school year for certified positions. We’ve also got around 16 people who are emergency certified. That means that they don’t have full certification to be teachers, but they’re in our classrooms. That’s unheard of for us,” said Superintendent Bill Parker.

Across the state and across the country, schools are facing shortages, and Scott County isn’t immune to that. Parker says the plan will help attract and retain teachers in the long run.

Beginning next year, high school students can enroll in an education pathway. A two-year program in partnership with EKU tailored to aspiring teachers.

From there, the students need to complete a four-year teaching degree at any college and then, if they come back to teach in Scott County, they’ll a $10,000 bonus each of their first four years.

“That’s $10,000 on top of their regular salary for the first four years of employment. $40,000 overall. That’s put them in a very favorable spot as far as starting pay across the state,” Parker said.

With lawmakers in Frankfort saying they won’t open up the budget for education this year, Parker says it’s time for districts to think outside the box.

“The closer you are to a problem, the more you realize how big of a problem it is,” Parker said. “While we’re able to get people in classrooms, we want to make sure that we continue to ensure that the quality of the people in those classrooms is to the level that our community would expect. We don’t have anyone saying we’re just looking for a handout. We’re not looking for a handout. We’re looking to be part of the solution.”

The superintendent says he hopes this can b a model for other school districts across the commonwealth...putting more teachers into the workforce.

“Even if this doesn’t result in us in Scott County having more teachers, I do believe we will have more students that complete this pathway, and by doing so, even if they don’t come back to us, they’ll be helping the profession overall,” said Parker.

Superintendent Parker said the district is working to implement these kinds of pathways for other careers as well.