Fern Creek Elementary not among JCPS schools facing 'unprecedented' teaching vacancies

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Excitement for the 2022-23 school year is palpable at Fern Creek Elementary School, where teachers spent Monday prepping their classrooms for students to either return for another year of learning or step inside school for the first time Aug. 10.

"My favorite part is getting to see them, especially the little kindergartners that have never been in school before, have never been to Fern Creek before, just getting them in and getting them excited to be here is my favorite part," said Abby Stamper, a kindergarten teacher entering her seventh year in the classroom.

Johanna Thomas, who teaches first grade, is eager for classes to begin next week so she can connect with this year's class of first-graders and reconnect with former pupils who have progressed in their learning journeys.

"They always tell me, they're like, 'You're going to be the one that's running and jumping up and down the halls on the first day,'" said Thomas, who is entering her fifth year of teaching. "And they're like, 'You'll be the one doing cartwheels.'"

As the beginning of the 2022-23 school year nears, Fern Creek Elementary is an outlier in a school district struggling to staff its classrooms.

About 300 certified teachers have resigned or retired recently, according to personnel reports in Jefferson County Board of Education meeting materials. Four-hundred-and-thirty-seven district teachers resigned during the 2021-22 school year, the most since 337 voluntarily left their jobs in 2018-19, according to meeting materials for Tuesday's board meeting. The 96 teacher retirements in 2021-22 are the fewest since 92 JCPS teachers retired in 2016-17, board documents say.

JCPS will "be dealing with this challenge in some way every year moving forward," JCPS Superintendent Marty Pollio said at a July 19 meeting. "We're having to look at things differently with our schools in order to minimize the impact of staffing shortages in our schools, especially teachers," he said at the time.

The Jefferson County Board of Education is scheduled to hear an update on the "unprecedented number of classroom teacher vacancies" during Tuesday's meeting, according to the agenda.

JCPS has 328 open teaching positions, according to the district's employment website. Aimee Green-Webb, the district's head of human resources, was unavailable for an interview Monday.

"We are just a reflection of what's going on nationwide with a lot of people retiring. I know a lot of people that went in the same time I did are now retiring," Fern Creek Elementary Principal Tonya Arnold said. "We've got our 27, 28 years in, and I think that's leading to a lot of the shortage."

Fern Creek Elementary is not among JCPS schools hiring for teaching vacancies days before classes begin for the 2022-23 school year.

"We have a really tight community and our staff supports one another, and I think that makes a huge difference," Arnold said.

In fact, Arnold said Fern Creek Elementary only has a few openings for support staff positions that may be filled by the time school starts Aug. 10.

"Right now, we have three openings out there, and I actually am setting up hiring this week," she said. "So my hope is that they will be filled before school starts."

"We were short-staffed as far as subs go last year, so I'm kind of prepared for that in the back of my mind," Stamper said. "But it doesn't change anything for me. I'm going to be here every day doing my job because I love it."

Thomas noted that administrators occasionally worked as substitute teachers when needed during the 2020-21 school year.

"We'd already missed maybe two plannings that week because of outages, and they were like, 'We're not doing that to you again,'" she said.

Arnold spent a few days substitute teaching in Fern Creek Elementary classrooms last year.

"It was just a nice little reminder of what our staff goes through every day with children," she said.

She plans on doing so again during the upcoming school year.

"Maybe not because it's needed but because I need to be reminded of what goes on in the classrooms every day," Arnold said. "... My assistant principal and I both went back and looked at our systems at the school, just making sure that we were offering all of the support that our staff needed when they're in the classroom."

While she won't be doing cartwheels in Fern Creek Elementary's hallways because of a recent back surgery, Thomas is ready to welcome students into the school for the 2022-23 school year. Her emotions welled while thinking about the upcoming school year during her recovery, she said.

"I'm like starting to think about my kids from last year, and I start to get a little teary eyed. I'm like, 'Oh my gosh, I can't wait to see them,'" said Thomas, who went to Fern Creek Elementary as a youth. "... I hope everybody is as excited as me."