Across the board public education is in dire need of assistance. That was the message Monday at a RE-1 Valley School Board meeting as officials talked about why the district is hiring people without licenses to fill some open positions.
Superintendent Dr. Martin Foster mentioned discussions that he’s had recently at trainings and regional superintendent meetings about how hard it is for many districts to find not just teachers, but principals, bus drivers, staff, custodians, paras, everything. In the past, when RE-1 advertised positions they would get a number of applicants; now they’re lucky if they get one or two qualified or licensed candidates and many times they don’t have any applicants. A search of the district’s website shows there are still open teaching positions for next year at almost every level, in addition to other positions.
It’s not that teachers don’t want to come to the district; there are also fewer students enrolling in and completing educator preparation programs. Just recently Dr. Foster was told that the University of Northern Colorado’s math education program had just four graduates this year.
That means the district must go to “Plan B” and instead of hiring teachers who have completed their college degree and student teaching, they are now hiring teachers without licenses who are enrolled in alternative licensure programs or are serving as long-term substitutes or critical shortage teachers.
“In many instances is it the best practice? No it’s not. But is it becoming more of a standard practice? Yes, it is,” Dr. Foster said
Right now, RE-1 has over 30 individuals who are long-term subs or in an alternative license program.
“Thank God that we have those folks, because if CDE (Colorado Department of Education) had not relaxed that and moved in this direction, not only this school district but many, many, many school districts, even along the Front Range, I couldn’t imagine the number of openings that they wouldn’t fill if it was standard practice that you’ve got to have that license, or in special education, you’ve have to have that master’s degree plus its area of expertise,” Dr. Foster said.
Assistant Superintendent Brenda Kloberdanz spoke about the many different alternative licensure programs available through Northeast Colorado BOCES, Centennial BOCES, Northeastern Junior College’s T-PREP (The Partnership for Rural Educator Preparation) program, or online. RE-1 has had five or more who have completed their alternative licensure this year alone.
She also spoke about the mentorship those individuals receive. Whether you are an alternative licensure teacher, long-term sub, or a first-year teacher, in RE-1 you are provided with a mentor to help you and you also receive all the professional development that other teachers do and anything additional that you might want.
“I would like to see it just like it always was when you went through a traditional teacher training program but we’re seeing some real successes through the alternative licensure program. The bottom line is if we can find people who want to do this and love kids, love to be there, love to be in school every day with the fun things that are involved there, and love to see kids learn, this is a way that they can become a teacher and it’s kind of learning as you go, strong mentorship, strong support,” Dr. Foster said.
Board Vice President Ronda Monheiser asked about the funding that’s available for teachers going through the alternative license program. Kloberdanz said there is a lot of funding including rural funding offered by Northeast BOCES that virtually pays for the program, same thing with the T-PREP program and Grand Canyon University is constantly sending out information for teachers.
The timeline for completing the alternative license program varies depending on the program. You don’t have to be enrolled in a program to apply for a position in the district but if you want to apply to CDE for an alternative license you must already have a contract with the district. The initial license is good for up to three years, then teachers must go through an induction program, usually through the district, and once that’s complete they can apply for their professional license.
Alternative license teachers do have content exams they must pass to get their professional license. Those who don’t pass can apply for an extension and if that happens, Kloberdanz or their principal will meet with them and let them know that they expect progression. There is nothing in board policy in regards to a timeline for how long they are given to pass exams.
Sometimes individuals fill positions in the district as a long-term sub and then decide to enroll in an alternative licensure program and the district often encourages strong paraprofessionals to consider enrolling in a program.
“We did have a teacher that had a bachelor’s degree and we talked about alternative licensure or being a long-term sub for a year just to see, ‘is this for me or not.’ Alternative licensure is a very rigorous program; it is a lot of work, especially coming from a bachelor’s degree in science, for example, and not having the teaching experience. They sometimes will be just a long-term sub for a year and they’re like ‘oh, this is great, I do like it’ and then enroll into an alternative teacher program,” Kloberdanz explained.
By law positions filled by long-term subs or an alternative license teacher must be advertised every year. Dr. Foster and the rest of the administrative team did have discussions in March about when to open those positions and how long to keep the positions open before the district lets those individuals know that they need them to return next school year.
“If you don’t let them know earlier, you can’t wait until mid-July and say, look, we tried all avenues because they’re going to be gone, somebody else is going to hire them,” Dr. Foster said.
Board member Heather Harris asked if the district can require those enrolled in alternative licensure program to remain in the district while they’re completing the program. Dr. Foster said that most of those teachers do stay, but they can’t require long-term subs to stay.
Asked how many years they can stay as a long-term sub, Dr. Foster said there is no defined number. Kloberandz pointed out there is an incentive to move from a long-term sub to the alternative license programs, noting that long-term subs do not progress on the salary schedule. They start at the $44,000 base salary and that’s where they stay; they don’t get any steps.
“I never thought I’d ever see this but that’s the situation. I can assure you we’re doing everything we can to find those qualified people but so is everybody else and the applicant pool is so shallow right now,” Dr. Foster said. “It’s critical, that’s why the legislature has passed this critical shortage legislation for this part of the state because it’s dire.”
Board president Steve Shinn gave some closing comments.
“We’re in a unique situation in terms of the shortages in all aspects of most every business that you’re involved in, that’s a reality,” he said, adding that he is hoping things will resolve soon. “Our objectives have always been to be the best that we can be, to see to it that we do the best that we can to meet the needs of RE-1 Valley in terms of quality and experience at every level and sometimes I know it gets frustrating. I think we are making strides.”
Shinn urged the district not to lose focus on all the accomplishments that staff and the board have made in the last couple of years and thanked district officials for coming up with solutions to address the reality the district is facing.
Dr. Foster also expressed his appreciation to the staff.
“The folks that we’ve got here, in the two years that I’ve been here the work that they’ve done and how hard they’ve worked and how much support we’ve received is phenomenal, it truly is,” he said.
