LEWISTON, Maine — A new school year means it's time for children to embark on a new journey. However, for school districts, the start of this school year isn't a completely fresh start as many are struggling to fill open positions.
"Just a few years before the pandemic, if you posted a position, you'd get anywhere from 20-40 applications for a position. We have positions posted right now where we have zero applicants," Lewiston Public Schools Superintendent Jake Langlais said.
Lewiston Public Schools needs about 1,500 people to have full staffing. Currently, they have about 100 positions open, according to Langlais.
The amount of openings vary from district to district, but the Executive Director of the Maine School Management Association Steve Bailey said districts around the state are seeing vacant positions and few applications. Some schools, especially in more rural areas, are trying to decide whether to cut some course offerings like physical education or music due to the lack of staffing, he said.
"This is the toughest that we've seen," Bailey said when talking about educator staff levels in recent years, which was amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The issue persists from a trifecta of factors, Bailey said: a large number of teachers retired, fewer people are going into the profession, and there's a lack of teaching programs in Maine to create qualified candidates.
"When it takes a village, you need everybody in their spots to be that voice, that encouragement for kids," Langlais said. "When you're short on staff, you might risk diminishing the amount of time you can spend having those conversations with kids to truly try to engage them and grow them as people and understand who they are. And I think when adults are busy, kids notice it. I think busy is good, but too busy in education just rushes things."
While the Lewiston school district is in a much better place than it was one year ago, Langlais said this year's 100 vacancies are still concerning.
The Bangor School Department has about 20 open positions, trying to make a full staff of 700 members district-wide. The Bonny Eagle School District has about 18 positions open throughout the district.