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news | 5 All full-time Staples staff positions fi lled despite national teacher shortage

Lilly Weisz ‘23 Maya Hruskar ‘23 Creative Directors

Staples has experienced increasing resignations and hiring demands as the national teacher shortage aff ects schools across the country. Amid a shrinking pool of candidates and many resignations, Westport Public Schools (WPS) has, for now, staved off defi cits by hiring 24 new teachers for the 2022-23 school year. Stephanie Sileo is one of the new teachers who came to Staples this year. She’s taking over for the recently retired Camille Eskell, an arts teacher. Sileo had her career altered by the COVID-19 pandemic. She had to stop her masters of arts program and in the pause decided that she would get her certifi cation to teach in high school. “I decided that instead of kind of sitting on [my] butt and like, you know, feeling a little sad about it,” Sileo said, “I really still wanted to teach art.”

In her process of searching for a job, Sileo felt the benefi ts of the teacher shortage on opportunities for new hires.

“I don’t wanna say it’s easier,” Sileo said, “but there were more jobs available to me than the last, I would say, 10 years.”

In the past year, administrators have also noted a shrinking in the pools of potential hires. Principal Staff ord W. Th omas Jr. attributed a mixture of

“mask fatigue, low pay, inability to work from home— which was especially dangerous during the height of the pandemic—and complex contentions over race and gender identity to the reduction in teaching’s appeal.

“Th ere hasn’t been a lot that has made us feel attractive in the last three or four years,” Th omas said, “and now we’re seeing the impact of it.”

Presently, all full-time teaching positions in the district have been fi lled, but administrators report increased diffi culty fi nding qualifi ed long-term substitutes. Th e English department, for one, has felt the impact. English teacher Mary Katherine Hocking, who recently left on maternity leave, does not have a long-term sub to fi ll her classes. Holly Sulzycki, Coordinator of English/ Language Arts, explained that the smaller qualifi ed applicant pool and the amount of fulltime employment opportunities for those candidates make fi lling the position diffi cult. As a result, Sulzycki assigned Hocking’s classes to existing English teachers. “I asked people in the department to step up until I could fi nd somebody who I felt confi dent could actually step into the role,” Sulzycki said. Th ere are some consequences to using full-time teachers to fi ll position vacancies. For instance, the teachers responsible for Hocking’s classes now have fewer free periods, must prepare for more classes and their existing students lose out on conference opportunities. Ultimately, Th omas and Sulzycki agree that challenges that face the profession result in teachers who are more resilient. “A lot of times it’s a thankless job,” Th omas said. “So you fi nd people who are passionate in the profession, you know, because it’s not one where you get rich or get any greater acclaim.”

There were more jobs available to me than the last, I would say, 10 years.” -Stephanie Sileo Art Teacher

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Teacher perspectives on post-pandemic teaching

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