The teacher onboarding process, scheduled to take place over the summer, leaves many classes at Jackson-Reed with no teachers or long term substitutes.

All new teachers at Jackson-Reed must go through teacher onboarding, a multistep DCPS-run process to ensure qualified and safe teachers are hired. It begins with the submission of an application followed by the potential job placement by a Principal or Manager at the given school. Then, applicants must complete a background check, drug test, and a Tuberculosis test. After that, teachers begin the in-person onboarding training and final document submission. 

The process has been prolonged for various reasons.

“DCPS may have trouble accessing their degree, verification of past employment, or their drug test for example,” Assistant Principal Summer Blount said, who works on teacher staffing. The speed of the onboarding process depends on if all steps the candidate completes, including applications, document submissions, and in-person training, are done so in an organized and efficient way.

Additionally, there are less candidates applying, and more open jobs, than there have been in past years. Since January 2022 alone, 372 teachers have resigned from DCPS positions, a 50% increase in resignations since last year. 

Despite nationwide teacher shortages, Jackson-Reed has been able to improvise through hiring substitutes and temporary teachers to ensure academic needs are still met. “This summer we arranged to have substitutes who have a degree or a background in a subject area to temporarily manage the class,” Blount said.

However, students’ educations are still being impacted by the prolonged onboarding process and temporary absence of new teachers.

Many administrators often end up filling the vacant positions. Instructional coach David covered an Algebra 2 class, which he was notified of two weeks prior to the class’ start.

Although Thompson wishes he had slightly more time to prepare, he describes the experience as being overall positive. “It was a really solid opportunity to meet kids on the first day,” Thompson said. 

Thompson is also a math certified teacher so he was able to give the students Algebra 2 instruction. “I think the important thing is that the student’s educations’ weren’t hurt.”

This year Zinnia Deora, a student in the Algebra 2 class, started the school year with three classes affected by teacher staffing issues. One of the most frustrating aspects of this for students is the lack of information they have been given. 

“I wish that administration would be more flexible to answering questions. I couldn’t seem to get any answers or go anywhere to figure out what is going on,” said Deora. •