Colorado school districts are still struggling with shortages for bus drivers, cafeterias workers and para educators to support special education teachers, a top school official said this week.
The trend of shortages among classified personnel in schools continues even though most mask and vaccination mandates have been dropped by school districts, said Myla Shepherd, president of the board of directors of the Colorado Association of School Personnel Administrators.
“Nearly every district is struggling to fill special education positions, both as licensed teachers for special education as well as paraprofessionals for support in the classroom,” said Shepherd, who is also the chief resource officer for Adams 12 Five Star Schools “Special education slots are especially challenging to fill.”
School bus drivers are also in short supply in many parts of the state, Shepherd said. School districts are now competing with Amazon and other private delivery services for qualified drivers, she added.
There is some relief for local schools as people turned off by mask mandates and vaccination requirements are returning to their jobs as those mandates ease, Shepherd said.
“Some folks are choosing to come back to work after showing some reluctance over the last two years,” she said.
She said school districts, including Adams 12, have raised starting salaries to compete with private companies. “We’ve thrown every possible resource to stay competitive,” Shepherd said.
St. Vrain Valley School District spokeswoman Keri McDermid said the district has been actively recruiting people for classified jobs. The work has paid off, McDermid said.
“St. Vrain Valley Schools continues to be a destination district, attracting teachers and staff from across Colorado and nationally, due to a strong culture, focus on innovation, regular increases in salaries for teachers and staff, and numerous other supports for our approximately 5,000 employees,” McDermid said.
St. Vrain currently has 41 openings for para educators and 23 for custodial services, according the district’s online postings - https://www.applitrack.com/stvrain/onlineapp/default.aspx.
