Rainy days for district inspire visions for future

By Marcus Clem

With a proposal for a four-day week not making the grade, it’s back to the drawing board for school officials trying to attract and retain teachers in a challenging environment.

The first quarter of the year is important for leaders in the St. Joseph School District. Decisions get made on issues like staff compensation, class scheduling and planning for the future. Board members have a short window of opportunity to make changes before elections come around. Results from April 2 could upend how the district is governed.

District remains at five days

The Feb. 26 vote of 3 to 4 to not adopt a four-day class plan rejected the advice of Superintendent Gabe Edgar as well as the local chapters of the National Education Association and the Missouri State Teachers Association. Educators had pleaded for some kind of plan to reduce their stress on the job and give them more time to prepare for students each week.

“Tonight I implore you … Do what the teachers and students overwhelmingly asked for you to do, and what your district administration is asking you to do,” Barbara Spencer, the district’s 2023-2024 teacher of the year, said ahead of the February vote.

After Spencer’s speech, several teachers verbally begged the board to vote for the four-day plan and shed tears after its rejection. Where such emotions might reflect a morale problem is hard to measure. Out of a total teacher workforce of about 850, the district had 61 full-time teaching jobs posted for the 2024-2025 year as of this week. It will work on filling them throughout the spring and summer, and new hires numbering in the dozens are not uncommon.

Regardless, the number of teacher vacancies isn’t fixed at its current position. Assistant Superintendent Brian Kraus, who, as chief of human resources, leads the district’s recruitment effort said the pace at which current staff are leaving is slightly slower than at this time last year. Departures occur for retirement, migration to a new school district or to quit teaching altogether.

“In the 2022-2023 time frame indicated, we had 70 certified teachers and four administrators leaving,” Kraus said. “In the 2023-2024 time frame indicated, we had 59 certified teachers and six administrators indicate they were leaving. Based on this data, there is no evidence to indicate that people are leaving at a faster rate than before.”

Teacher and student interests

Retired U.S. Army Lt. Col. David L. Jones, the St. Joseph NEA vice president, said improving teacher morale is critical for the district. He serves as the lead instructor for Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps programs and works at Central High School. He favored the four-day plan and said he hopes some constructive reform for on-the-job stress in the classroom can be found soon.

“What troubles me the most is this false dichotomy,” Jones said. “The argument was made, ‘We have to do what’s right for the students,’ or, ‘We have to do what’s right for the teachers.’ When, in reality, the relationship between teacher and student is intimately connected. There is no reform which helps teachers in the performance of their duties that does not confer benefits onto the student, and vice-versa.”

Robidoux Middle School teacher James McCord, who opposed the four-day plan, offers an optimistic view after the board’s vote. McCord said the staff will stand by students — who are, he said, “knuckleheads” on occasion — come what may, as part of their dedication to service. Teachers know they won’t make big bucks in this field, McCord said, and that’s not the point. However, pay does need to be taken into consideration, he said.

“I love my job,” McCord said. “I know this job isn’t about pay. I’ve done other jobs where I’ve made maybe more money. That wisdom comes maybe with age. It comes with wanting to do it. It comes with being out there and seeing what other jobs are out there to do, and the things you have to do to make a decent wage. But there definitely does need to be a legitimate raise for teachers.”

Now that’s a $20 million question

Meanwhile, a question on improving some aspects of the district nears. Melanie Barnes, who has two children in the district, signed on to serve as co-chair of the Friends of SJSD 2024 campaign on behalf of Project St. Joseph School District, a $20 million bond that also will go before the voters on April 2. It’s billed as a “no tax increase” measure because passage would not raise the district’s tax levy of $4.32 per $100 in assessed value.

“We all know that our school buildings are extremely advanced in age,” Barnes said. “And we need to do what we can in order to upgrade them.”

The bond would invest money in three main concerns. These are science, technology and fine arts education; fixing school buildings; renovating athletics fields, sidewalks and other exterior infrastructure. The big idea is, while there is no detailed plan to raise staff salaries, reduce their working hours or confer other new benefits, at least their workspaces might be improved and new services might be provided to students.

“A lot of the teachers are saying everything is run down, student participation (in activities) is low,” Barnes said. “So if we can put investments into our arts department and into our drama department and into the STEM activities, our biology labs, our chemistry labs, it’s going to encourage and get more students to be involved.”