Idaho school districts have a new recruiting strategy.

If you’re a qualified California teacher and are firmly against being vaccinated against COVID-19 in order to retain your job next school year they want you to consider applying to work for them.

It reflects a harsh reality that 1,000 plus California public school districts in the coming months may have to face. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposed 100 percent vaccine mandate for students, teachers and support staff that based on perimeters he listed that includes  FDA approval for younger ages means it will coincide with the start of the next school year.

At best, it will create a higher-than-usual teacher shortage as educators that have  issues with the COVID-19 vaccine weigh their options that could include a career change to take advantage of the overall worker shortage, retire early, or leave California to apply for teaching jobs in states without vaccine mandates.

Vaccine mandate could

lead to districts cannibalizing

teacher staffs in other districts

In the worst case scenario it could create not only a sizable exodus from the teaching position but create an in-state bleed for struggling schools or districts located in either less desirable areas or even high priced communities. That could occur when fully vaccinated teachers suddenly face what could be unprecedented job openings for teachers at all levels in California to significantly expand mobility opportunities.

That could manifest itself by teachers switching to districts that have better pay and benefits, are more equipped to support learning methods that that they favor or to encourage decisions to take jobs in communities that have a high attraction in terms of lifestyle where it is difficult in normal circumstances to get a foot in the door.

The end result could see poor school districts unable to match the appeal of other districts scrambling to fill positrons suffer big staffing hits and numerous districts may see increases in class sizes if they are unable to cover any staffing losses.

The vaccine mandate is out of the control of local districts such as Manteca Unified and Ripon Unified. The reason is fairly basic. California is — and has been for more than a century — a state-school system that has local school boards vested with minimum authority.

Decisions governing a wide array of issues from building standards and basic curriculum requirements to vaccine mandates that will include 10 with the addition of the COVID vaccine are made by Sacramento and not school boards and administrators whether they are in Los Angeles, Ridgecrest, Alturas, or Manteca.

The best districts can do is prepare for the best outcome for the hand they likely will be dealt with a vaccine mandate.

Manteca may try to

cushion possible hit by

stepping up teacher hiring

Manteca Unified has started exploring its options realizing 100 percent of its teachers and support staff isn’t likely to be fully vaccinated for a wide variety of personal reasons even with narrow and rigid exceptions allowed for medical and religious reasons.

And while they expect more of the district’s roughly 2,500-3,400 teachers and support staff when part-time classified staff and substitute teachers are factored to get vaccinated in the coming months, the district is highly unlikely to reach 100 percent.

 Currently 83 percent of the district’s roughly 1,200 certificated staff — teachers, administrators, guidance counselors and others — are fully vaccinated.

Some 77 percent of the classified support staff is also fully vaccinated.

That means slightly more than 200 teachers are not vaccinated.

The school board will revisit a proposed resolution that asks the state to consider dropping the pending mandate in favor of recommending vaccination for teachers and staff when they meet in December

“It needs to be made absolutely clear we do not want to lose any of our teachers,” noted Community Outreach Coordinator

Victoria Brunn.

She noted the district has solid teachers who have been dedicated to teaching students from the start of the pandemic and have made adjustments needed to do so.

Superintendent Clark Burke indicated one possible strategy the administration may ask the board to consider is hiring additional teachers using some of the $54 million of the overall $92 million the district is receiving from federal COVID relief funds that hasn’t been spent.

The money, which is coming in over the course of a number of years, is being made available to establish safe classrooms and campuses to deal with COVID protocols. It is also  to address multiple-year efforts to help students overcome learning losses and social and mental health issues created by the pandemic and distance learning

.

Such a move would secure additional teachers to cover those the district might lose from a vaccine mandate ahead of the next school year. And even if the district ends up with more teachers than necessary the district could use those they hire as part of their effort to bring students up to speed with learning loss issues. Then as the years unfold those teachers could be shifted into standard classrooms through regular attrition.

Burke said the district is also exploring ways unvaccinated teacher might be able to be used away from the classroom to help students recovering from learning losses.

Such a strategy could have limited success as other districts that might not have as an aggressive learning recovering strategy being put together could still use the COVID funds to bankroll “signing bonuses” and such to lure teachers.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com