Ashley Martin was surprised to learn that her son’s fourth grade teacher, who was hired over the summer, isn’t considered a full-time Fairfax County, Virginia, school employee.
Her son’s teacher is fully credentialed, in some cases teaching advanced materials, but is being paid as a long-term substitute, Martin said. It’s an hourly rate without benefits, such as health insurance, but performing the job of a full-time teacher.
In the first few weeks of the school year, Martin’s been unable to concentrate on much else, instead worrying her son’s teacher will consider a job at another school system, leaving a full classroom to acclimate a second time.
The reason for that, Martin was told, is what some are calling a hiring freeze within Virginia’s largest school district. School Board Member Melanie Meren is calling it a “crisis” and a cost-saving measure that has consequences.
But in an interview with WTOP, Superintendent Michelle Reid said it’s a common practice in the first weeks of a new school year to offer openings to more senior teachers already under a contract as enrollment data comes in. When WTOP asked her whether the process constituted a hiring freeze, Reid said, “not exactly.”
“We had in some cases, if you will, a holding pattern until we can be sure that we don’t have a more experienced staff member that we need to retain that could be placed in that classroom,” Reid said. “However, those conversations have happened this week, and my understanding is that any of those positions that we’re able to hire currently serving staff, we’re absolutely doing that.”
Each year, school systems across the D.C. region estimate how many educators they’ll need at each school campus based on enrollment projections. Fairfax County is one of several divisions where enrollment has been declining.
The circumstances create what Reid called a “math problem.” When there are more students than expected, more teachers are needed, and if there are fewer kids than expected, fewer teachers are required, meaning some might be offered roles at schools with openings.
“This rebalancing generally occurs in the first month of school, and that’s really the process we’ve been engaged in since the school year started,” Reid said.
In instances in which the division doesn’t have qualified internal candidates who have the necessary credentials or licenses, the district has been hiring external candidates, Reid said.
In a newsletter to families, meanwhile, Meren said the process means only existing Fairfax County Public Schools employees are considered to fill vacant teaching jobs, but continuing “to use this strategy six weeks into the school year is not acceptable.”
Next week, Meren is planning to introduce a proposal directing Reid to quickly hire teachers who applied to jobs and started teaching but haven’t yet been offered permanent positions.
Reid, though, said that process is already happening.
“We certainly share the concerns around making sure that we have a qualified, capable educator in front of every student, and we understand those relationships develop over the weeks that we’ve had since the school year started,” Reid said. “In most cases, those positions will be able to be retained, and we’ll be fine. But we want to make sure, and it sometimes takes a moment with 40,000 employees, we want to make sure that we have the best match of the best and most experienced staff member in front of children.”
Martin, as a parent, was eager to learn that was the case. Her son’s teacher, she said, is expected to receive the full-time contract in the near future.
“But I still have a concern that you know maybe other people are still in this situation, and other students may be left without a teacher and without that continuity,” Martin said.
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