TOLEDO, Ohio — Local school officials say working in human resources for schools has been no easy task since the onset COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020.
Lori Berryman, the director of human resources at Washington Local Schools, said she has faced the problem of teachers taking breaks from the profession or leaving it entirely. Her experience reflects a nationwide issue.
"My goal as a human resource professional is to hire the very best people that I can," Berryman said. "The most qualified the most talented the people that have passion for kids and then to obtain and lift those people. To provide professional development to those individuals to support them and obtain them."
But, teachers may be finding their way back into the workforce. Berryman said she has seen more applications this year than in the past couple of years.
"Coming into the school year being fully staffed is very important not only with our teaching staff but in all of our other areas as well," Berryman said.
She said all employees, teachers, teacher aids and tutors, bus drivers and more are there for a reason: to make children's education a better experience.
But when a school is understaffed, that mission becomes harder to accomplish.
"When there isn't enough staff, it puts an undue amount of stress on our teachers on all of our employees and also our students," Berryman said.
The positive outlook for adequate staffing isn't just the case at WLS, either.
A statement from Perrysburg Schools said the district is also seeing more applicants. The statement reads:
"We have 391 employees with a teaching contract plus 33 new employees joining us this school year with teaching contracts, some new positions and some replacing employees who have left. Employees with a teaching contract include teachers as well as tutors, social workers, psychologists, SLPs and occupational therapists. We are working on one open position, which is in the interview process. All other openings are filled at this time for teaching contract positions. Job fairs for teaching positions take place in the winter and spring."