One of the most pressing challenges in Special Education today is the global teacher shortage, which affects all grade levels and districts. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, enrollment in teacher preparation programs had declined significantly, a trend that has only worsened in recent years. This issue has created a ripple effect throughout our district, making it increasingly difficult to retain highly qualified Special Education teachers and paraprofessionals. Without stability in the classroom, Special Education students face significant challenges in maintaining consistent learning and development.
Despite these obstacles, our district has taken steps to improve Special Education teacher recruitment and retention by offering additional compensation to attract and retain highly qualified teachers. According to Supervisor of Student Services Vanessa Coverdill, we recently filled 10 of the 17 vacant paraprofessional aide positions in collaboration with Human Resources. While this marks a step in the right direction, the remaining vacancies still leave Special Education students with substitute teachers.
At North, the Special Education students were previously provided opportunities to interact with general education students and staff, like with the Green and Gold Cafe. The Green and Gold Cafe was a program for Special Education students to support career-building skills, giving the students an opportunity to run a small cafe and deliver coffee to staff on Wednesdays and Fridays. Unfortunately, due to Special Education teachers parting from the district, this program is no longer able to run. This is a specific example of how Special Education students are being significantly affected by the loss of teachers. For the remaining Special Education teachers, it can be physically and mentally draining without enough support causing teacher overload at work and not enough teachers to help the students that may need extra help. That is why this is an important issue and it needs to be addressed immediately.
With this ongoing issue affecting Special Education students and families they could feel disappointed and deprived of the social opportunities to create a more inclusive environment. Though experiences like Green and Gold cafe are no longer offered, new opportunities for social interactions have been created, like the Norsemen Express. The Norsemen Express is a program for Special Education students that allows them to learn social and organization skills through delivering teachers their mail throughout the school. If students would like to get involved, other clubs like KNOTS and the unified basketball team are available to join. We highly encourage students to join the clubs so the students can have the same opportunities with fun memories and participation in sports alongside fellow students and contribute to the North community.
