As the first day of school approaches, some D.C.-area school systems say they are facing teacher vacancies and are working on last-minute efforts to fill them.
In Loudoun County, Virginia, acting Superintendent Daniel Smith said at a school board meeting earlier this week that while the county has about a 97% fill rate, it still has 212 licensed teaching positions open. The school system, Smith said, is “experiencing higher vacancy counts than in previous years.”
As of this week, Smith said the county has 128 openings for licensed middle and high school teachers and 84 elementary school vacancies. Last year, according to school system data, there were 102 middle and high school openings and 62 elementary vacancies. And before the 2021-22 school year, there were 94 and 50, respectively.
Loudoun County had more than 500 teachers resign or retire in the 2022-23 school year, up from more than 300 the year before.
Now, Smith said the county has “developed a multipronged approach to ensure classrooms have appropriate staffing to start the school year.” One part of it is to increase the long-term substitute teacher pay rate “and promote LCPS as a compensation leader in the region,” Smith said.
Loudoun County also hired a new human resources and talent development supervisor to oversee and grow its substitute teacher program, and is working to automate more processes and develop a new policy for the employment of temporary employees.
At a news conference this week, new schools Superintendent Aaron Spence, who starts on Sept. 1, said educators are feeling an increasing amount of pressure.
“They’re feeling all of the things that we’re hearing about in terms of how teachers perceive the profession, and how others perceive the profession,” Spence said. “What I believe teachers want is to be valued. They want to be seen as true professionals in the classroom. They want to know that they’re part of the solution to the challenges in their schools.”
The first day of school in Loudoun County is Aug. 24.
In Fairfax County Public Schools, the state’s largest school system, there are 199 current teacher vacancies, a school system spokeswoman said.
And in Montgomery County Public Schools, Maryland’s largest school system, there are 224 vacancies, including 141 elementary openings, 52 middle school vacancies and 30 high school openings, according to county data.
