A much-discussed mass teacher shortage doesn’t appear to be materializing in the Bangor area as local school districts say they’re operating with nearly full staff headed into the 2022-23 school year.
The Bangor School Department had about 50 vacancies to fill at this time in 2019, 2020 and 2021, department spokesperson Ray Phinney said. But the 3,500-student school department is down to 15 vacancies this summer.
Thirteen of the 15 positions have been filled, and are awaiting the school committee’s approval, he said. The school department has made offers to candidates for the two other open positions.
The department fluctuates between 650 and 675 employees, and 400 of those employees are teachers, Phinney said.
“We’ve retained more staff than before,” he said. He pointed out that only three teachers retired last school year, compared with the previous year, which saw “double-digit” retirement numbers.
Recent headlines in national publications have warned about an exodus of teachers leaving the profession in response to low pay, pandemic-related exhaustion and increased political polarization that has led to legislation in a handful of states — though not Maine — restricting what teachers can and cannot teach or say in the classroom. National surveys of teachers have also found that their morale is at an all-time low.
But school departments in Bangor, Brewer and the Hampden and Old Town areas appear to have sidestepped those problems, as superintendents from those districts reported having fewer vacancies than expected.
Superintendents in Old Town-based Regional School Unit 34 and Hampden-based RSU 22 both said they had few teacher vacancies.
In terms of teacher positions, the 2,300-student RSU 22 has to fill the positions of a middle-school English Language Arts teacher who resigned last week and a Spanish teacher who asked to go from full time to part time. There are also at least three ed tech vacancies, RSU 22 assistant superintendent Christine Boone said.
She also predicted that finding substitutes for ed techs and teachers, which was a challenge last year, would be a struggle again this year. Ed techs are staff members who often support students with special needs and other disabilities.
RSU 34 superintendent Matthew Cyr echoed this, noting that it had been a challenge to find school counselors and teachers who were trained to teach certain specialized high school-level classes, though he pointed out that other industries were also struggling.
“We’re no different than the average labor market,” he said.
Boone said it was the same in her district, though RSU 22’s ed techs are highly trained and can step in for some teachers when needed. Principals have also “devoted hours” to finding qualified candidates.
“When we check references, we ask the person, ‘Would you have this person teach your child?’ If the answer is no, then they’re not a match,” Boone said.
But overall, “we’ve been really fortunate in RSU 22,” she said.
School districts last school year also found it difficult to recruit enough bus drivers — most of whom work for contractors — and school food service employees.
It’s a similar story in Brewer. Teaching positions are fully staffed, and there are only a few vacancies left for support staff, superintendent Gregg Palmer said.
“I’m really happy with where we are,” he said. “It’s not easy [to hire] around the country, and even in some districts around Maine.”
