The Courier-Journal (Louisville)
JCPS to transfer teachers between schools if vacancies aren’t filled
In an effort to address significant shortages in some Jefferson County Public Schools, district leaders say they’ll likely have to transfer teachers from schools where they start their first day.
Superintendent Marty Pollio told The Courier Journal that after enrollment counts are official in mid-August, teachers at schools that are under-enrolled could be moved to schools that are overenrolled.
Additionally, Pollio said resource teachers who work at the central office level will be sent back into classrooms, specifically at The Academy @ Shawnee and Hudson Middle – two west Louisville schools that are going into the year with more staff vacancies than any other schools in the district.
As of July 31, Hudson need seven teachers, including three English teachers and a special education teacher. The middle school is expecting nearly 600 sixth and seventh graders this year.
At Shawnee, the school was short more than a quarter of the teachers it is supposed to have. Job postings showed the school still needed 20 teachers, including five math teachers. It’s enrollment is projected to be just shy of 1,200 students.
Across the district, there were 100 job postings for teachers with less than a week left until school begins. Schools will continue interviewing and hiring new teachers though the start of the year.
Maddie Shepherd, president of the Jefferson County Teachers Association, said she believes teachers will be transferred to new schools as a “worst-case scenario” – though the district is permitted to do so as needed.
JCPS employs about 65 resource teachers, and Pollio said they’d likely reenter classrooms on a rotating nine-week schedule.
The district won’t know how many schools have more teachers than are needed until after the start of the year. Given recent changes around magnet busing, more students are expected to transfer to new schools this year compared to years prior. Of the near-18,000 magnet students who lost busing, about 900 indicated they will attend a new school this year, though another 2,500 didn’t respond to a survey asking for their plans.