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RETENTION RATE CRISIS
Featured: VACANT: Students stare at an empty teacher's desk as they wait for a substitute teacher to arrive. Former Clarke Central High School English department teacher Jake Reuse believes that retaining teachers is important in establishing a better education for students. “I think that we need to make (teaching) a desirable place for people to (work) because we want to be an educated country,” Reuse said. “We want kids going out and doing great things and inspiring the next generation is huge. I think that we have to collectively do a better job of approaching that.” Illustration by Eleanor Robinson
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The efficacy of student learning and faculty performance is being hindered by high teacher turnover rates in the CCSD.
BY NICO WILLMAN News Editor BY SOFIA BALSAMO News Staffer LAYOUT BY AUDREY ENGHAUSER Print Editor-in-Chief LAYOUT BY CHLOE SEARS Print Managing Editor
Student education is being impacted by rising teacher turnover rates, with an average of 14% of all Clarke County School District teachers departing annually.
According to the CCSD Human Resources department, the teacher turnover rate at Clarke Central High School rose from 10.74% to 14.15% between 2019 and 2021, resulting in negative effects on student achievement and teacher morale.
“It creates more challenges than most industries when a teacher leaves. There’s the (loss of) institutional knowledge that happens. They know how to do something (and) they know how to do it really well,” CCSD Executive Director of Recruitment and Development Dan Swartz said. “They’ve navigated that work environment for many years and they’ve put systems and structures in place to do things efficiently. When they leave, sometimes those have to (be) recreated and a loss of efficiency happens.”
As the CCHS math department co-chair, Heather Julian has witnessed the effects teacher turnover has had on long-term teacher development.
“(Turnover) definitely affects the cohesiveness of planning teams, as well as what different people have been trained on. Every year, (students) learn a little bit more math and get better at math. (Professional learning) is the same way, so (teachers) get better at teaching or instructional strategies,” Julian said. “When there’s a lot of turnover, that means that the new people haven’t necessarily gotten that training, or (we’re) constantly trying to get them caught up and into the vision of what we do here at Clarke Central."
As of February 2022, the National Education Association reported that 55% of teachers nationwide considered leaving the profession earlier than planned, compared to the 37% in August 2021. According to CCHS Assistant Principal Dr. Summer Smith, this increases the shortage of hireable personnel and makes it more difficult to find experienced and skilled professionals.
“Teacher turnover affects everything,” Smith said. “All the training and support and resources that we pour into teachers, if they just stay for a year and
then leave, then you’re constantly doing that over and over again.”
According to CCSD Chief Human Resource Officer Dr. Selena Blankenship, a former CCHS English department teacher, keeping teachers in the district is crucial for maintaining and increasing high student achievement. To foster retention, faculty members are offered professional development and growth opportunities to maximize their students’ learning gains.
“Top educators produce five to seven months more learning gains for students annually than ineffective teachers,” Blankenship said. “We want to retain teachers so we can develop them (and) increase their effectiveness so they can increase our students’ learning.”
However, with a declining applicant pool both nationally and in the CCSD,
employing teachers has become increasingly "We want to retain teachers so we can develop them (and) increase difficult, according to Swartz. “(With) recruiting excellent educators, their effectiveness so they can increase our students' learning.” there's a time and investment standpoint. Those are dollars committed to not bolstering what we have, but trying to go out and -- Dr. SeLena Blankenship, recruit somebody (new),” Swartz said. “Then there is a challenge with finding excellent CCSD Chief Human Resources Officer teachers. There is a labor shortage in every industry (and) the workforce for educators is shrinking.” Former CCHS English department teacher Jake Reuse, who taught from 2011 to 2014, believes that a lack of teacher retention also leads to gaps in emotional connections with students. “The kids need those bonds. They need people they can rely on,” Reuse said. “A lot of kids don’t have that at home, or they don’t have a teacher they necessarily go to (who) they trust or feel they can speak openly to. When you lose somebody like that, that’s always going to be negative.” Former CCHS science department chair Buddy Sims was an educator for over 30 years. Sims encountered several occasions in which he felt as though teachers had been disregarded by administrative leadership. “(Demands) get chucked down the line and teachers end up at the end of the food chain,” Sims said. “It would be hard for me to account for all the
DR. SELENA BLANKENSHIP BUDDY SIMS CHRISTOPHER PENDLEY
CCSD Chief Human Resource Officer former CCHS science department chair former CMS Principal and current CCSD Human Resource Director of Employee Development
-- DAN SWARTZ,
time I felt was lost in unproductive meetings, time taken away because someone else decided that that time was more valuable to them than it was to me.”
Similar to CCHS, the Clarke Middle School community experienced a high turnover rate during the two years leading up to the pandemic, challenging remaining teachers and staff to re-establish cohesion within the school. CMS Assistant Principal Kristina Lerch-Batson and Blankenship both reported a total of between 60-62 and 65-72 teachers for the years 2018-19 and 2019-20, respectively.
“Our teacher turnover in the years 2018-19 and 2019-20 was about 20 staff members per year. The challenge to having so many new teachers was how to build continuity of our instructional goals year-to-year,” Lerch-Batson said. “We really had to start at the beginning of our work with instructional planning each year since our content teams had so much change. However, it was beneficial to have new voices in the process each year to help push us forward with our work.”
According to CMS Gifted Collaborator Chris Woodward, teacher turnover degenerates faculty culture, especially with losses of veteran teachers.
“We used to have a teacher who focused on Holocaust Remembrance Day, and they’d have (guest) speakers and a room where (students) could go and be solemn and reflective,” Woodward said. “These things we did were special, were done for a reason and were impactful. The new people you have are trying to tread water and understand how to be a teacher.”
Despite these challenges, former CMS Principal and current CCSD Human Resource Director of Employee Development Christopher Pendley implemented restorative practices among the CMS faculty and staff during his tenure in order to improve teacher retention.
“(We had to) work closely together, communicate clearly and openly and support one another,” Pendley said. “That had the impact of helping to bring us together as a team. While we may have started the year with some anxiety, I think we finished the year with pretty high morale.”
Despite various incentives, Smith believes teacher turnover is
Above: UNOCCUPIED: A teacher stands in between the silhouettes of unfilled teaching positions. Clarke County School District Chief Human Resources Officer Dr. Selena Blakenship noticed the profound impact teachers can have on their school community during her time as a Clarke Central High School teacher in the early 2000s. “Working in a school is different from working in some other kind of business because you're together. You're seeing each other all day long, sharing students, sharing joys and frustrations and ideas, and you're problem-solving together. You really bond through that experience,” Blankenship said. “When your colleagues leave for different opportunities or they're moving away, it does leave a gap. It leaves a void. You miss those people because you have bonded.” Illustration by Eleanor Robinson
inevitable.
“Not all turnovers are bad. Some people leave because they’re growing, changing their job titles, or (for) personal reasons that can’t be helped,” Smith said. “Sometimes it is a bummer because we’re losing somebody that we really like, but that’s the nature of the beast.”
In order to mitigate the issue of teacher turnover and increase retention rates, the CCSD Human Resources staff is providing incentives to establish a more supportive atmosphere for teachers.
“We’re trying to create as best of a culture and environment for teachers to work in as possible,” Swartz said. “We’re trying to reward them financially, as well as in other tangible ways, to recognize their hard work and skill in the profession. We’re looking to grow them as individual(s) with their skills so that they can be even more successful in their jobs and potentially develop into other careers within education.”O
Above: MOVING ON: A teacher exits her classroom as she makes the decision to quit her job. In former Clarke Central High School science department chair Buddy Sims experience, a leading cause of why teachers consider leaving is a feeling of disenfranchisement. “One of the several reasons that are critical to teachers leaving the profession is that kind of sense of, ‘I don't have a voice. I'm not being respected (and) my opinions are not respected,’” Sims said. “I think every teacher has heard the, ‘If you don't like the way things are here, you can always go somewhere else,’ kind of an idea. And that's the wrong idea to come from an administrative position, rather than supporting teachers and saying that things are difficult.” Illustration by Eleanor Robinson
COMBATING ABSENCES
In response to poor attendance in classes, CCHS administrators have begun offering incentives for perfect attendance in order to motivate students.
After recognizing a steady decline in attendance in the past few months of the 2021-22 school year, the Clarke Central High School administrative team has implemented changes to motivate students to attend their classes.
To combat the rise in absences, the CCHS Positive Behavior Team, which consists of Assistant Principal Latinda Dean, Family Engagement and Academic Support Specialist Christian Barner and other CCHS teachers, created a weekly raffle in February. With the chance to win prizes, students with perfect attendance from the previous week are entered in the raffle and on Monday, one student from each grade level is drawn. “Attendance has been something that we, and I think a lot of schools throughout the nation and possibly throughout the world, are probably dealing with right now after COVID. (We’re looking) for another way to try to encourage students to be here," Barner said.
According to English department teacher Grace Crumpton, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic
BY JANIE RIPPS are still heavily impacting CCHS, and this is Social Media Coordinator showing in the classrooms. “The pandemic creates a system where kids don't have to be in class to pass. They can turn in work whenever they want, and they know that their teachers care about their grades (and) they know that their teachers will go out of their way to try to catch them up, so they don't come to school and then they don't do the work,” Crumpton said. According to Dean, other schools throughout the Clarke County School District have been experiencing an increase in student absences, leading to more permanent solutions being formulated at the district level. “A firm policy that involves punitive measures for voluntary absences while at school (or) skipping class would be helpful. We are currently looking at and discussing successful policies and procedures that have garnered positive results in other districts,” Dean said. “At the school level, we are also looking at how we can leverage (Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports) to improve attendance.” Above: MISSING STUDENTS: Clarke Central High School English department teacher Robert Bramlett teaches to six of his 16 first period students in Room 109 on April 19. Throughout the 2021-22 school year, teachers at CCHS have been experiencing fewer students attending their classes. "(Attendance is) way worse (this year than past years)," Bramlett said. "Obviously COVID has a huge part to play in that (and) what it's also done is created an expectation where I think for many students, especially seniors, that attendance is just sort of voluntary and compulsory. (It) was already sort of the case before COVID, but it's most certainly the case now." Photo by Aza Khan
Mykolas Kumpis, a junior and winner of the March 28 raffle, thinks that offering incentives will help improve the attendance situation and serve as the extra push students need to come to class.
“People skip (class) pretty often, especially on quiz or test days,” Kumpis said. “(But) the raffle has to be helping. Everyone likes gift cards, especially to places like Chick-Fil-A and Starbucks, so it’s a motivator for sure.”
While the creation and implementation of these potential solutions are being prepared, Barner says the raffle has been a small step in the right direction for increasing the presence of students in classrooms.
“It's a raffle, so it's not a guarantee (that students will win), but hopefully it (gives) those students who are coming to school regularly a boost and some encouragement for a job well done and for pushing through a lot of the obstacles,” Barner said. “Any way that we can further encourage students Ois great.”
Awarding growth
CCHS senior Lamar Haynes is the 2022 recepient of the Dr. Miller Jordan Jr. Memorial Scholarship because of his personal and academic turnaround from freshman to senior year.
Clarke Central High School varsity basketball player Lamar Haynes, a senior, is the 2022 recipient of the Dr. Miller Jordan Jr. Memorial Scholarship.
Haynes was informed of this achievement by the scholarship chair, on behalf of the award committee, prior to CCHS Honors Night in Mell Auditorium on April 28.
“From what I saw from the nomination requirements, it makes sense to me that he earned it. I think he's a really hard worker -- he works hard in the classroom and on the court, and is a very dedicated student,” CCHS special education department collaborative teacher Brittany Carter, who teaches Haynes in Multicultural Literature, said.
Jordan was an Associate Principal for CCHS starting in 2000 until his death in 2007. The award was established to honor Jordan's legacy and work with students.
“The award is a very nice way to honor Dr. Jordan's memory and the work he did here. (The scholarship) was supposed to go to a student who was the type of student that Dr. Jordan often took under his wing,” CCHS counselor Heidi Nibbelink said. “There would be a big visible shift in how (students) approach school and life, and by the time they graduated you were happy to launch them out into the world because you already saw evidence that they could make a positive change in their life and move forward.”
The scholarship has been a tradition at CCHS since 2008. Nibbelink was a colleague of Jordan's and worked with him to help students succeed in school.
BY OLIVIA HENDERSHOT “What I remember about him is what a warm Journalism I student and kind person he was. He was very soft-spoken, so he made people feel very comfortable in his presence,” Nibbelink said. “I would work with him like counselors do with principals about managing certain cases with students.” According to his coach, head boys varsity basketball coach Dr. Stefan Smith, Haynes’ growth throughout high school can be attributed to his developing focus on reaching his goals. “He's just become a better young man as far as maturity. Of course, the natural maturity of becoming a freshman to a senior, but you can see the growth, his seriousness about his academics, him being a person that's being accountable and responsible and his overall performance, and everything he improved over the four years,” Smith said. Carter has great expectations for Haynes' future after high school. “I hope he is a star both on the court and off the court and is able to get the work done. (I hope he) is able to one day look back on his time at Clarke Central in college and see how much work he put into it and how that positively impacted him and where he is,” Carter said. Haynes believes his journey from freshman to senior year would not have been successful without the help of the people around him. “(I would say) thank you, just thank you for just putting up with me, dealing with me. I know I'm a handful. (The people who have helped) keep me on the right path, keep me in school (and) just make me a better person,” Haynes said.
-- BRITTANY CARTER
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Left: FOUR-YEAR GROWTH: Clarke Central High School varsity basketball player Lamar Haynes, a senior, reads "The Poet X" by Elizabeth Acevedo in Room 234 at CCHS on April 28. Haynes was awarded the Dr. Miller Jordan Jr. Memorial Scholarship at Honors Night on April 28. “I think it’s nice and significant if you can get people to help make those decisions or make those awards that have that institutional memory and the memory of that person because you can go a little deeper than just the words on the page that described this scholarship,” CCHS counselor Heidi Nibbelink said. Photo by Lucas Donnelly
