Manteca Unified leveraged its reserves created for financial stability in the fall of 2020 to get ahead of what they saw as a big potential for a teacher shortage this school year.
They started hiring teachers a full year ahead of anticipated retirements as well as projected attrition for faculty members moving out of the area or accepting other jobs.
And as soon as they were hired the new teachers were put to work helping with substitute issues that mushroomed last school year during the pandemic as well as having adequate staff on hand when a number of teachers took advantage of a mid-year early retirement offer.
As of January of this year the district has hired 150 teachers. The district continues to advertise for — and hire — teachers on an ongoing basis to get ahead of projected openings.
The bottom line for Manteca Unified has been their ability to avoid significant teacher shortages — both full-time and substitutes – that continue to plague many districts in the Central Valley, the Bay Area and the rest of California due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
As a result they were able to start this school year with just four teaching positions to fill — three special education teachers and a music instructor.
District Superintendent Clark Burke noted the district still has to struggle at times to secure substitutes but all-all-in-all they are significantly better positioned when it comes to staffing than a number of surrounding districts.
“If a (fulltime) position wasn’t open when teachers were hired they were used as floater teachers or substitutes,” Burke said.
The district also got ahead in the struggle for substitutes right after the pandemic started in March 2020.
They almost immediately offered long-term substitute contacts to 50 who had been substituting for Manteca Unified over the years. That was done in anticipation of teachers being tested positive for COVID-19 as well as an expected dearth of substitutes to fill in for teachers taking personal time for appointments or sick leave due to other illnesses.
The district now has 56 long-term substitutes paid at $215 a day as opposed to short term subs that are paid $174 a day. Prior to the pandemic, Manteca Unified — like most districts — only hired long term subs when they knew a teacher would be out for an extended period of time such as recovering from surgery.
The school board, to stay ahead of the region when it comes to landing subs by offering the top pay, this month upped the sub rate $15 across the board.
The current rates are $174 per day for 1 to 25 days, $180 a day for 26 to 50 days, $185 for 51 plus days, and $215 for long term which is essentially the school year.
The 56 current long-term subs help with teacher absences. There is still a sub shortage. In any given month the district is hiring three of four substitutes to fill the ranks of subs they lose through attrition.
To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com
