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YOUNGSTOWN – A few months into the new school year, featuring one new high school and one middle school, the Youngstown City School District is continuing to try to fill a variety of teaching vacancies.
“We need special education teachers throughout the district, and high school math teachers,” Brian Kibler, the Youngstown City Schools’ executive director of performance and accountability, said after the regular board of education meeting Tuesday afternoon at Youngstown Rayen Early College High School.
Another gap that needs to be filled is a shortage of education assistants, he noted.
As a means to remedy the problem, the district has partnered with Youngstown State University to encourage student teachers, along with others who have had success in that capacity, and who have “a passion for urban education to join us,” Kibler said.
The difficulty in filling such positions also reflects a trend across Ohio, as well as a nationwide teacher shortage, he added.
In addition, the district and beyond face the challenge of a small pool of prospective special education instructors, in part because the work often is rewarding, yet highly difficult. It also requires those who have passion and a “true skill set,” Kibler explained.
In another move, the district has contracted with Amerigis, a Pittsburgh-based educational staffing agency that works to recruit, manage and train education professionals, to find education assistants to fill gaps in the district, he said.
Also at Tuesday’s session, Superintendent Jeremy Batchelor said that, about nine weeks into the school year, the board is continuing to implement best practices across the district.
To improve early literacy, officials are searching for reading tutors who will receive training regarding certain state standards that align with the district’s Academic Improvement Plan, Batchelor noted.
Despite some naysayers’ pessimistic attitudes toward the city schools, officials are continuing the work to move forward, the superintendent added.