MAY 2022
TEXAS ASSOCIATION OF SCHOOL PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATORS
TASPAHR Connection Your HR Quarterly Newsletter
Back to Normal?
Employment Issues in the Post-Covid World
Also in this issue: • Finding & Keeping Substitute Teachers • Paraprofessionals Want to be Teachers
Table of Contents TASPA Staff, Executive Board & Committees
04
President’s Message
06
TASPA President Max Flores
Calendar of Events
07
2022 TASPA Events
Welcome New TASPA Members
08
New TASPA Members
Meet TASPA’s Director of Programs & Membership
10
Welcome Jeannie Tomasek
Teacher Vacancy Task Force
12
Update on the Newly Formed TEA Task Force
Back to “Normal”?
16
Employment Issues in the Post-COVID World
Diamond Sponsor Spotlight
20
Featuring ESS
Diamond Sponsor Spotlight
22
Featuring iteachTEXAS
Overcoming the Struggles of Finding and Keeping Substitute Teachers
24
Paige TeBeest, Amarillo ISD
Research Results: Paraprofessionals Want to be Teachers
28
Conducted by Hartwell University - Spring 2022
West Texas Mini-Conference Recap
33
4 | HR Connection
Staff & Executive Board TASPA STAFF Dr. Lolly Guerra, Executive Director Chandelle Crane, Director of Marketing & Communications
TASPA EXECUTIVE BOARD Max Flores, President, South San Antonio ISD Al Rodriguez, President-Elect, Elgin ISD Kimberly Rich, First Vice President, Dickinson ISD TBD, Second Vice President Chris Halifax, Secretary, Abilene ISD Martha Carrasco, Immediate Past President, Canutillo ISD
TASPA DISTRICT REPRESENTATIVES Brandon Chandler, District I, Gregory-Portland ISD Dr. Tyrone Sylvester, District II, Goose Creek CISD Dr. Tamey Williams-Hill, District III, Del Valle ISD Johjania Najera, District IV, Keller ISD Rick Rodriguezx, District V, Lubbock ISD Craig Lahrman, District VI, Ysleta ISD
TASPA Committees TASPA LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE Sharon Fuery, District I, Southside ISD Brian Kroeger, District II, Splendora ISD Bob Mabry, District III, Liberty Hill ISD Jason Lievehr, District IV, Denton ISD Brett Beesley, District V, Dumas ISD Bobbi Russell-Garcia, District VI, Ysleta ISD
5 | May 2022
TASPA Committees TASPA NOMINATIONS COMMITTEE Kayla Vaughn, District I, Gregory-Portland Barbara Ponder, District II, Barbers Hill ISD Kris Reyes, District III, Pflugerville CISD Dr. Loraine Marazzano, District IV, Grand Prairie ISD Paul Kimbrough, District V, Canyon ISD Elvia Moreno, District VI, Canutillo ISD
TASPA SCHOLARSHIP COMMITTEE Charity Salinas, District I, Southside ISD Kelly Gabrisch, District II, Humble ISD Sue Pfleging, District III, Waco ISD Monica James, District IV, Waxahachie ISD Paige TeBeest, District V, Amarillo ISD Celina Stiles, District VI, Socorro ISD
TASPA CONFERENCE COMMITTEE **Includes President, President-Elect & District Representatives Kayla Vaughn, District I, Gregory-Portland ISD Dr. Nkrumah Dixon, District II, College Station ISD Krista Marx, District III, Elgin ISD Kendra Hancock, District IV, Dallas ISD Staci Ashley, District V, Ector County ISD Rosa Ramos, District VI, El Paso ISD
TASPA SBEC COMMITTEE Melissa Aguero-Ramirez, District I, Pharr-San Juan-Alamo ISD Cyndy Pullen, District II, Columbia-Brazoria ISD Bob Mabry, District III, Liberty Hill ISD Pamela Linton, District IV, Frisco ISD Rhonda Dillard, District V, Frenship ISD Jiovana Gutierrez, District VI, Ysleta ISD
6 | HR Connection
President’s Message
H
ello TASPA family! I hope that each and every one of you are doing well during this extremely busy school year. As we seem to be tunneling out of the COVID era we now face the “Great Resignation” impact on the education profession. I can safely predict this will mean we will learn new strategies, acronyms, terms and processes along this new journey. We will add new skills to our already full resumes Although this new era adds stress to our current job, I know TASPA is here to help us evolve and be resilient..
stress among teachers and we are seeing many educators retire or resign in huge numbers and sadly some may never return to teaching. The increase of cost of living and teacher pay are topics that will be hot during the summer months. Although these challenges seem daunting, I feel relieved because I know we have teachers, paraprofessionals, auxiliary personnel and administrators whose mission it is to be sure every student in Texas receives an opportunity. As the state begins to make an effort to deal with teacher shortages, I know that TASPA staff and members will lead the charge in finding creative ways to fill these needs with limited resources. Let us continue to think together, share ideas, and collaborate about our issues to get ahead of the shortage. Let us continue to be TASPA strong!
Lastly, I want to ask the TASPA family to stay informed and be active with the current legislative events. There are proposed Texas Bills that do not help public schools that are being supported by the representatives we elect. As leaders we are limited on publicly sharing political opinions, but we are not limited to encouraging employees to register and vote. Just imagine the difference I want to take time to celebrate our educators could make if all 800,000 Texas accomplishments from these past few years. school employees voted. Would schools Let us celebrate the fact that we survived a receive the proper funding? Would our time when teachers and educators worked from healthcare and retirement be fixed? Would home and some did not want to come back. students and teachers have all the resources We survived a time when we opened school needed? Let’s make our voices heard! After all, buildings back up with unrealistic distancing public education is the key to our future and restrictions. We were challenged by new democracy. medical restrictions and became experts of After a few years of uncertainty, I feel I can the CDC and TEA websites. We all became say we are back! Continue to take care of experts in mask wearing. We were mandated yourselves and I look forward to sharing to avoid face to face contact and muscled a handshake, hug, fist-bump or any other through countless hours of webinars, Zoom creative greeting with you at the TASPA meetings, Google meets, chats, and other virtual meetings/events. TASPA even hosted 4 Summer Conference. very successful conferences virtually. I want to celebrate how these tough times brought the TASPA family closer together. As we transition back to the “normal” way of educating students across Texas we face new challenges. Teachers are feeling the gaps in student learning caused by the time away from the classroom. These gaps are causing
Max Flores Max is the 2022 TASPA President. He is the Executive Director of Human Resources and Administrative Services in South San Antonio ISD.
7 | May 2022
Calendar of Events For more information and updates, please visit our webiste at taspa.org or call 512-494-9353. DATE
EVENT
LOCATION
June 1, 2022
Personnel Skills For Supervisors of Non-Exempt Staff
Waxahachie ISD
June 9, 2022
Webinar: Importance of Substitute Training
Virtual
June 16, 2022
Webinar: Retention First Recruiting
Virtual
June 21, 2022
Virtual Certification Fundamentals Workshop
Virtual
June 22-23, 2022
HCLE Course
Region 10 ESC
July 13, 2022
2022 Summer Law Conference
Kalahari Hotel, Round Rock, TX
July 13-15, 2022
2022 TASPA Summer Conference
Kalahari Hotel, Round Rock, TX
July 20, 2022
Webinar: Service Dogs in the Workplace
Virtual
October 3-4, 2022
2022 TASPA Fall Support Staff Conference
Kalahari Hotel, Round Rock, TX
December 14, 2022
2022 Personnel Law Conference
Kalahari Hotel, Round Rock, TX
December 14-16, 2022
2022 TASPA Winter Conference
Kalahari Hotel, Round Rock, TX
Thank you to our 2022 Conference Diamond Sponsors:
8 | HR Connection
Welcome New TASPA Members New TASPA Members (February 22 - May 15) Jennifer Driver Dir of Curriculum, Accountability, Fed Pgms Ballinger ISD
Mike Jasso Assistant Superintendent Personnel Mesquite ISD
Melissa Barrera PEIMS Clerk Slaton ISD
Scott Dubberke Director Aldine ISD
Kittiya Johnson Director Human Resources Northside ISD
Walter Berringer Ex Dir of Secondary Services Eagle Mountain-Saginaw ISD
Wendy Dutton HR Dir of Recruitment & Retention McKinney ISD
Sarah Kraatz Personnel Director Kerrville ISD
Pam Berry Ex Dir of Human Capital Crowley ISD
Rebecca Farmer Administrative Assistant / HR Clarksville ISD
Delbert LeBlanc Human Talent Tomball ISD
Rodney Caddell Assistant Superintendent Levelland ISD
Eboney Forté Coordinator HR Systems Garland ISD
Tessie Ledesma Coordinator of Human Resources /Public Relations Robstown ISD
Jonathan Campbell Director of Human Resources Forney ISD
Charity Garza BRAINATION, Inc.
Griselda Lomas HR/Business Specialist Crane ISD
Rachel Arthur HR Benefits Administrator Brazosport ISD
Steve Carroll Andrea Gonzales-Jarrett Dir of Secondary Professional/ Onboarding Manager Para Talent Little Elm ISD Victoria ISD
Charlotte Nicklebur Education Specialist Region 4 ESC
Daphene Carson Director of Operations Essence Public School
Erica Gruber Director of HR Humble ISD
Nokuthula Oberhansley Payroll & Benefits Manager The Episcopal School of Dallas
Rachey Coy Teacher Corsicana ISD
Rebecca Hampton Senior Education Specialist Region 4 ESC
Melissa Oliva Assistant Superintendentt Brownfield ISD
Colleen Crawford Division Director, HR TASB HR Services
Kendra Henke Science Coordinator McKinney ISD
Melissa Pierce HR Director Goodwill Excel High School
Brooke Dockery Assoc Dir for Compensation Goose Creek CISD
Kelly Howe HR Generalist The Episcopal School of Dallas
Theresa Rappaport Assistant Superintendent The Excel Center for Adults
9 | May 2022
Jennifer Schmidt Human Resources Specialist San Angelo ISD
Kimberly Sherfield Director of Strategic Staffing, Recruit, Retention Crowley ISD
Juanita Sicairos HR Specialist South Texas ISD
Deidra Sutton Director of Student Services Chapel Hill ISD
Daniella Varela Assistant Professor Texas A&M UniversityKingsville
Sylvia Villegas Business Manager Crane ISD
Zachary Wallace HR Specialist Frisco ISD
Aaron Williams Eugene Williams Asst. Superintendent of Admin. Director of Personnel Services and Human Resources Sheldon ISD Midlothian ISD
Martin Winchester Chief Human Assets Officer IDEA Public Schools
Julia Wright Superintendent MeyerPark Charter
10 | HR Connection
Meet TASPA’s Director of Programs & Membership JEANNIE TOMASEK
TASPA PROGRAM DIRECTOR
TASPA is pleased to announce that Jeannie Tomasek will start as our new Director of Progrmas and Membership in June. Jeannie Tomasek was born and raised in Shiner, TX, and attended Shiner ISD schools. She received her Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education from Texas A&I University (now Texas A&M - Kingsville), and holds Lifetime Certification in Secondary Social Studies Composite (Grades 6-12). She began her career as a classroom teacher with Bryan ISD, serving as a World Geography teacher at Bryan High School. After moving to Austin, Jeannie initially worked for the Texas Workforce Commission as an Foreign Labor Certification analyst. In 1996, she accepted the position of Certification Specialist with the State Board for Educator Certification, a position she held for eleven years. Jeannie became the Manager of Fingerprinting in the Division of Educator Investigations at the Texas Education Agency in 2007. During this time, she oversaw the implementation of Senate Bill 9, otherwise known as the “Fingerprinting Bill”, which greatly expanded national criminal history background check requirements based on fingerprinting in Texas public schools. Since that time, she has continued to lead the Fingerprinting & Registry Support team at TEA, and serve as a principal resource for school personnel in Texas. Jeannie and her husband, Robert reside in Round Rock, and have two sons, Kyle, a senior at Texas Lutheran University, and Collin, a sophomore at Texas A&M University – College Station. In her spare time, Jeannie enjoys spending time with family and friends, walking, hiking and singing in her church choir. “In joining the staff at TASPA, I am most excited to continue interacting with and providing program specific guidance and training to school district personnel. This is something that I have enjoyed during my years with SBEC and TEA; this interaction is probably what has kept me motivated in the same role for so long. I have a profound respect for the work done by school personnel staff, especially in these difficult times, and I know that I can continue to make a positive impact.”
12 | HR Connection
Teacher Vacancy Task Force
In March, TEA announced the Teacher Vacancy Task Force to better understand the staffing challenges and make comprehensive recommendations to address these issues. The Task Force will be comprised of teachers and school systerm leaders in public education hailing from a variety of districts, geographies, and student populations from across Texas. The Task Force will meet every other month for one year, with Commissioner Morath and agency leadership regularly facilitating discussions with Task Force members, while including insights gathered from experts and additional education stakeholders throughout the State of Texas. TASPA is proud to have seven members on this Task Force. SCHOOL SYSTEM ADMINISTRATOR MEMBERS • Greg Rodriguez
• Brandon Enos
• Narciso Garcia
• Judd Marshall
• Roland Hernandez
• Leah Tunnell
Superintendent, Edcouch Elsa ISD Superintendent, Vanguard Academy Superintendent, Corpus Christi ISD
• Brandon Chandler
Chief Human Resources Officer, Gregory-Portland ISD (TASPA Board Member)
• Diana Barrera Ugarte
Superintendent, Kenedy ISD
• LaTonya Goffney
Superintendent, Aldine ISD
• Jay Killgo
Superintendent, Vidor ISD
• Jason Hewitt
Superintendent, Shepherd ISD
• Richard Cooper
Superintendent, Corrigan-Camden ISD
Superintendent, Cushing ISD Superintendent, Mount Pleasant ISD Assistant Superintendent for Administrative Services, Burkburnett ISD (TASPA Member)
• Justin Terry
Superintendent, Forney ISD
• Sherry Taylor
Executive Director of Human Resources, Aledo ISD (TASPA Member)
• Norma Castillo
Executive Director of Talent, Austin ISD (TASPA Member)
• Chane Rascoe
Superintendent, Lampasas ISD
• Dave Lewis
Superintendent, Rochelle ISD
13 | May 2022
• Christie Volmer
Chief Human Resources Officer, Hereford ISD (TASPA Member)
• Chris Tatum
Chief Human Resources Officer, Amarillo ISD (TASPA Board Member)
• Rick Rodriguez
Chief Operations Officer, Lubbock ISD (TASPA Board Member)
• Andrew Kim
Superintendent, Comal ISD
• Roland Toscano
Superintendent, East Central ISD
• Rosie Vega-Barrio
Superintendent, Tornillo Independent School District
• Casey Morgan
Executive Director of Human Resources, ResponsiveEd
• Ashley Osborne
Executive Director Talent Development, Ector County ISD
TEACHER MEMBERS • Chair: Josue Tamarez Torres
• Eric Hale
• Melina Recio
• Tiffany Kilcoyne
• Jean Streepey
• Pam Fischer
• Linda Galvan
• Valerie Haywood
• Cynthia Hopkins
• Jennifer Kuehne
• Kimberly Davis
• Faye Urich
• Vania Amado
• Tiffany Klaerner
• Changela Burns
• Kisaundra Harris
• Sadie Atha
• Natasha Garcia
• Cody Knott
• Raymond Falcón
Cesar Chavez Learnig Denter, Dallas ISD 4th & 5th Grade Bilingual Math McAllen High School, McAllen ISD English 2, AP Composition and Literature Highland Park Middle School, Highland Park ISD 5th - 8th Grade STEAM Los Fresnos United, Los Fresnos CISD High School English 1 & 2, SPED/Resource, ESL Kaffie Middle School, Corpus Christi ISD 7th & 8th Grade Science Goliad Middle School, Goliad ISD 7th Grade ELAR, 6th-8th Grade Gifted and Talented Lula Belle Goodman Elementary, Fort Bend ISD 4th Grade Bilingual ELAR & Social Studies Summer Creek High School, Humble ISD High School English 1 East Chambers High School, East Chambers ISD High School English 3 & 4, AP Literature Caldwell High School, Caldwell ISD 6th-12th Grade Band Director, Fine Arts Director
• Brian Kruk
Pineywoods Community Academy, Lufkin, Texas High School Government/Economics, Coach
• Joshua Sciara
DeKalb Middle School, DeKalb ISD 7th Grade Science, 6th-8th Grade STEAM, 8th Grade CTE Horticulture
• Alexandra Fain
Booker T. Washington Elementary, Wichita Falls ISD 3rd Grade ELAR
David G. Burnet Elementary, Dallas ISD 1st & 2nd Grade Self-Contained Hurst Junior High School, Hurst-Euless-Bedford ISD 7th Grade English Provident Heights Elementary, Waco ISD PreK-5th Grade Physical Education Bastrop Middle School, Bastrop ISD 6th - 8th Grade ESL Sommer Elementary, Round Rock ISD K-5th Grade Special Education Haskell Elementary School, Haskell CISD Early Childhood Special Education, PreK-3rd Grade Mason Elementary School, Mason ISD PreK Tascosa High School, Amarillo ISD High School Anatomy and Physiology, Forensic Science Akin Elementary, Hale Center ISD 1st Grade Self-Contained Matthews Academy, Lubbock ISD High School Algebra 1 & 2, Geometry, Mathematical Models, Spanish 1 & 2
• Suzanne Kirkland
Forsan JR/SR High School, Forsan ISD Business Information Management
• Sergio Estrada
Riverside High School, Ysleta ISD AP Physics
• Janie Coheen
Elolf Elementary School, Judson ISD PreK
14 | HR Connection
TEA has provided four key strategies to address the ongoing staffing concerns.
Understand the challenges districts are currently facing related to teacher vacancies
Share best practices for addressing critical teacher vacancy and shortage areas, including exploring opportunities for certification, placement, and hiring flexibilities
Two TASPA Task Force members have provided updates on the strategies set forth by TEA. UNDERSTAND THE CHALLENGES... Rick Rodriguez, Chief Operations Officer, Lubbock ISD states “as an HR administrator for 20 years, it is no surpise the nation is suffering a teacher shortage. We have never had enough teachers, however, the lack of interest in entering the profession is alarming. To further exacerbate the issue are the recent changes in processes to become a teacher. We simply need to make it easier to become a teacher and hold districts accountable for vetting the candidates and maintaining high expectations of them.” Leah Tunnell, Assistant Superintendent for Administrative Services, Burkburnett ISD reported “I think it is vital that the task force be made up of members from all over the state, so that a true picture of the challenges districts face is illustrated by the people who are on the task force. I’ve worked in districts that struggle financially and districts that have no trouble funding raises, incentives, and employment advancement, so I think the members must represent a cross-section of our state’s diversity. Now that the task force consists of both teachers and hiring strategists, I believe we can truly work towards some solutions towards filling vacancies. And, while the challenges of filling a vacancy in Burkburnett ISD may look different from the challenges Brazosport ISD faces, at least we can all get educated about the various problems our state faces.” SHARE BEST PRACTICES... Rick Rodriguez says, “everything either costs money or time- neither of which most districts have at this time. A recent practice of taking current educational aides and guiding them through teacher certification is a great way to promote staff who are already familiar with the district’s culture. the ‘how’ districts do this is the challenging part. Some allow those employees to take time during the workday to allow for coursework and studying. Others provide compensation for them to do the coursework outside of the workday. The next complicated piece to this
Develop recommendations for regulatory or other policy changes for TEA
Provide feedback on TEA initiatives designed to help impact vacancies
puzzle is retaining those individuals the district has invested either time or money in to make sure the payoff is to the district’s benefit!” Leah Tunnell says, “this was a topic discussed at length in our first meeting. I learned so much from other people on the task force regarding how they are actively dealing with this issue. Many task force members spoke about the unique ways they are finding and keeping teachers! I know we will revisit this topic, and hope to get even more solutions to share with my area colleagues and my district.” DEVELOP RECOMMENDATIONS... Rick Rodriguez says, “this will be a challenge for the Task Force as there are too many variables in the needs of each district. There is not a ‘one size fits all’ solution to this problem.” Leah Tunnell states, “we have not addressed this yet. I hope we are able to provide TEA with some solutions to maintain a rigorous professional path to become an educator, while not excessively charging prospective teachers for miscellaneous items.” PROVIDE FEEDBACK ON TEA INITIATIVES... Rick Rodriguez reports, “TEA believes the new edTPA is the solution to teacher quality and the district must focus on retaining teachers so they do not leave the profession. Recently, TEA offered TCLAS grant opportunities to allow some funding for these types of ‘grow your own’ programs as well as paying student teachers during their final training period. These are all great ideas, however the sustainability of these initiatives is what is of concern. It will become an ‘equity’ issue as some districts will not be able to afford to do the paying during student teaching. In addition, districts cannot ‘hold’ the student teacher to the commitment of staying with the district after graduation as there is no teeth to the agreement to stay after graduation.” Leah Tunnell states, “TEA has not suggested initiatives yet, other than the recently launched TIA allotment and National Board Certification incentives, which are not designed to attract teachers
15 | May 2022
but will hopefully assist in maintaining our teacher ranks. There are also TCLAS grants to help districts grow their own teachers from current students and current employees working as paraprofessionals, The district where I work is currently applying to use the TCLAS grants for our high school students who are interested in teaching (and taking coursework in high school related to education) and our paraprofessionals who can qualify for financial reimbursement for college courses in education.” The Task Force will meet again June 2, 2022. We look forward to hearing an update on their strategies. For more information, please visit the Teacher Vacancy Taskforce web page, or send an email to: TEATeacherVacancyTaskForce@tea.texas.gov.
16 | HR Connection
Back to “Normal”?
Employment Issues in the Post-COVID World
Mario G. Perez, Jr
C
urrently, the COVID-19 pandemic is retreating. Researchers mostly agree that the omicron strain, and its variants, though more transmissible, are milder, and are hopeful that subsequent COVID-19 variants may follow this pattern. Herd immunity, brought on because of vaccines and natural infection, is at hand if we have not achieved it already. As we move past summer and enter the winter, cases may spike on a short-term relative basis, but the overall outlook is positive. In sum, it is the end of
the COVID-19 pandemic as we know it. But will the effects of COVID-19, particularly those felt in the workplace, continue? The answer seems to be yes, at least for now. The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic continue to have an impact on employment issues, especially concerning charges of unlawful discrimination. For example, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”), which handles employee administrative claims of workplace discrimination, reports the heaviest
workloads in agency history. Most of these claims, over twothirds, allege that an employer has engaged in disability-related discrimination. The EEOC may investigate a wide variety of discrimination-related claims, including disability, age, sex, and religious discrimination. Most EEOC investigations begin when an employee files a charge of discrimination. The EEOC will then usually request a position statement from the employer. An EEOC investigation can be time consuming and costly, so preparing
17 | May 2022
the position statement to demonstrate to the EEOC that discrimination has not occurred at the outset is important. Bad position statements often bring bad results. At best, an inadequate response may delay the EEOC’s investigation. At worst, if the employer’s response is unsatisfactory, the EEOC may begin a formal investigation. The reasons for the dramatic increase in filings of EEOC charges of discrimination are several. The effect is clear: these interactions with the EEOC, whether directly or indirectly, have resulted in an increased knowledge among employees of their workplace rights and the EEOC process in general. Surely, more employees now know, or have some modicum of understanding, that the law forbids discrimination when it comes to any aspect of employment, including hiring, firing, pay, job assignments, promotions, layoff, training, fringe benefits, and any other term or condition of employment. By discrimination, the law refers to unlawful discrimination. That is, discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, and disability. Additionally, employees may be more apt to allege that an employer’s particular practice is retaliation, which occurs when an employer takes adverse action against an employee who files a charge of discrimination or participates in an employment discrimination investigation or lawsuit.
to submit a written request and accompanying documentation is usually the first step. Other, less common, claims of discrimination include allegations of sex and religious discrimination. The prohibition against discrimination on the basis of religion includes all aspects of religious observances and practice, as well as religious belief. An employer is required to accommodate an employee’s religious observance or belief unless the employer demonstrates that it will suffer undue hardship to its business operations. The legal definition of “religion” is nearly boundless. Indeed, the EEOC and courts routinely admit that they are unfit to decide whether a religious belief is sincerely held. Thus, they will readily err on the side of the employee, presuming that the religious observance or belief is genuine absent clear and overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Some employees learned about the legal protections for religious beliefs, and put them to the test, when challenging public health measures. With some of these employees arguing that wearing a face mask represented participation in satanic ritual in violation of their religious beliefs, the EEOC is surely to make some interesting decisions regarding religious-discrimination claims.
The EEOC also has jurisdiction over claims of sex discrimination. In the current atmosphere of heated legal discussion, the definition of sex is a particularly Among the avalanche of EEOC filings, disabilityardent topic. While presenting an interesting academic related claims are most common. Within this category, topic, as a practical matter, ensuring that employment failure to provide reasonable accommodation is practices comply with the law’s prohibitions against the usual culprit. The Americans with Disability sex discrimination is a difficult task. Generally, sex Act (“ADA”) governs reasonable requests for discrimination occurs when a person is treated less accommodation. Under the ADA, an employer must favorably because of that person’s “sex.” “Sex” grant reasonable requests for accommodation to includes sexual orientation, gender identity or qualifying individuals unless the employer would expression, pregnancy or pregnancy-related condition suffer undue hardship. Examples of reasonable (including lactation), or a sex stereotype. Open ears, accommodation include granting leaves of absences, heart and mind should be an employer’s mantra when providing aides, and/or modifying duties. Sometimes, adjusting to the changing definition of “sex” and its determining which reasonable accommodation could impact in the workplace. work requires creativity. Whether an accommodation The COVID-19 pandemic, among other effects, is reasonable and should be granted is fact intensive, produced an avalanche of employment-related charges which makes adequately documenting the request of discrimination filed with the EEOC. The current and subsequent consideration of the request a prime estimate for the EEOC to investigate an employee’s consideration. The Job Accommodation Network, claim of workplace discrimination is over two years. known as “JAN,” is an incredible resource provided As we move past the COVID-19 pandemic, the by the U.S. Department of Labor for employers question remains whether the dramatic increase in faced with the uncertain process that is handling an claims is short lived, or whether it is the new normal. employee’s request for accommodation. Among other Considering the difficulties lived during the pandemic, things, JAN provides a form for employees to fill out it is a fortunate question to ask. to request reasonable accommodation. Documenting the entire process is essential and asking employees
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Doing Things Differently: Overcoming the Substitute Shortage It’s no surprise that schools throughout the country are struggling with a shortage of substitutes. Many schools that don’t have enough substitutes to meet their needs are forced to combine classrooms and ask one teacher to oversee large groups of students. In other cases, their only option is to have support personnel and administrative personnel cover classrooms throughout the day. Neither of these scenarios are conducive to a productive learning environment for students. Fortunately, ESS can help. ESS thinks differently about substitute management and has pioneered cutting-edge strategies to help mitigate the challenges of the national substitute shortage. With the help of ESS, our partner school districts benefit from substantial substitute coverage, even with short notice. ESS recruits differently, trains differently, places differently, and retains differently. This unique approach has helped ESS become the largest education-exclusive substitute provider in the country. Recruiting Differently ESS leverages expansive resources and industry-leading recruiting strategies to maintain a large pool of qualified substitutes available to work the moment they are needed. Our recruiters specialize in local recruiting including strategies tailored to succeed in every unique community. We achieve this by building a team of local recruiters to become familiar with the community your schools service. Our team spends time within the community to get to know your students, your staff, and administration. We recruit local substitutes that best fit within your schools and culture. Recruiting local community members ensures that they have a vested interest in the schools and students. They care that the school is well-staffed, so the children have a quality education and succeed in the community.
Training Differently Anyone who substitutes within your District should be well-trained. They must understand how to create an appropriate lesson plan, effectively instruct students, and be prepared to address any issues that may occur. ESS has developed its very own comprehensive substitute training program to prepare our substitutes to succeed in your schools. The ESS training program includes onsite, online, and ongoing training initiatives to ensure ESS substitutes provide your students the same quality education that you would expect of your regular school staff. Substitutes are not eligible for placement until they have successfully completed our extensive training program and passed our screening processes – so you can be sure each and every ESS substitute is properly trained and qualified. Placing Differently Effectively placing substitutes is essential to supporting our district partners. Our cutting-edge technologies allow our team to place substitutes at higher rates than many districts can achieve internally. Automated processes, active involvement, and detailed informational insight ensure that ESS can support your District’s substitute needs – even at a moment’s notice. And, our advanced systems track substitute credentials and qualifications, guaranteeing that every placed substitute is 100% compliant. Using our advanced reporting tools, our team will analyze each of your school’s substitute placement needs so that we can take proactive measures to meet those needs. We also establish building-based substitutes at each school to serve as guaranteed daily coverage at their assigned location. These substitutes report to their assigned school every day to cover any position you might need that day.
Retaining Differently Retaining your valued substitutes helps ensure consistency in the classroom and more reliable absence coverage. That’s why ESS invests heavily in substitute retention and incentives to demonstrate our appreciation and keep substitutes happily working. Comprehensive benefit options, 401(k), weekly pay, monetary incentives, recognition awards, employee discounts, referral bonuses, and credentialing compensation are just a few of the ways ESS demonstrates its appreciation to our substitutes. Thanks to our retention initiatives, ESS is able to maintain a large pool of substitutes ready and willing to work for our partner districts. Doing Things Differently As our nation’s schools continue to struggle with staffing limitations, the importance of substitutes and their impact on student education cannot be understated. Your substitute program is essential to the success of your schools, staff, and students. Student achievement depends on a substitute program that can support your day-to-day needs. That’s why you deserve a substitute management partner willing to do things differently. You deserve ESS. Contact me today to learn more about what ESS can do differently to support student achievement in your schools. Fred Bentsen Vice President of Business Development FBentsen@ESS.com | 832.244.5015 www.ESS.com
Diamond Sponsor Spotlight
iteachTEXAS seeks to be the premier route to certification by enhancing the capacity of the teaching profession to provide equal educational opportunities for all segments of culture. iteachTEXAS strives to prepare caring, effective, and competent professional educators committed to leading others to lifelong learning. With the desire to diversify the teaching force and the administrative staff, particularly in urban, rural areas, and on military bases. By addressing regional, state-wide, and subject-specific teacher shortages, iteachTEXAS promises to provide a solution to the multifaceted problem of educating all students for multicultural and global learning communities. iteachTEXAS commits to a mission of excellence in teacher preparation in an evolving technological world. Through the recruitment, training, and support of qualified individuals, the emerging shortage of teachers and administrators can be reduced, especially in the identified high-needs areas of special education, bilingual education, Spanish, math, and science. iteachTEXAS is designed to offer excellent educational experiences and an innovative delivery system to transform a diversified candidate pool into leaders impacting the lives and learning of Early Childhood through 12th-grade learners. iteachTEXAS is fundamentally built to reduce barriers for teachers to enter the profession. To that end, iteachTEXAS works to attract high-quality educators with a streamlined admission process allowing for multiple pathways for content area identification. iteachTEXAS implements state-of-the-art technology to provide an engaging online learning environment. All coursework can be completed online which provides individuals the opportunity to begin our program without resigning from their current employment as well as create their own schedule tailored to the demands of professional and personal life. All educators serving under an Intern and/or Probationary Certificate receive unparallel in-person support through a dedicated iteachTEXAS Field Supervisor. iteachTEXAS has also developed flexible payment plan options for our candidates. Additionally, iteachTEXAS works with districts to grow their own educators with a pathway for educational aides/paraprofessionals to obtain their certification and through the use of TCLAS grants. There has never been a better time in history to make a difference…and there has never been a greater calling than education. The power of a teacher impacts the lives of students, bridges the gaps created by poverty, and can transcend the unfortunate circumstances in the lives of children. A teacher’s ability to plant seeds of hope and confidence is unparalleled. Let us help you live out the dream of becoming a difference-maker one student at a time!
Email Us: kay.clark@iteach.net john.omelan@iteach.net
Learn More:www.iteach.net/texas
24 | HR Connection
Overcoming the Struggles Substitute Teachers
Paige TeBeest, Coordinator of Auxiliary Personnel, Amarillo ISD
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n the flip side of what many districts are seeing in the Panhandle and West Texas areas, Amarillo ISD has seen a consistently high fill rate with our substitutes following the initial lull when the pandemic hit. During the TASPA West Texas Mini-Conference that was recently held in Lubbock, I had a chance to engage in conversations with attendees from Frenship, San Angelo, Ballinger, Burkburnett, Tulia, Hereford, and Plainview ISDs. We discussed fill rates for the districts for the 2019-20, 2020-21, and 2021-22 school years. We also talked about the different opportunities that substitutes have available to them, recruitment efforts, and retention efforts. The districts ranged from fair to excellent fill rates prior to the pandemic, but all had their struggles immediately following
the pandemic. Specifically speaking of Amarillo ISD, we had fill rates in the 80% range prior to the pandemic in the 2019-2020 school year. In the 2020-2021 school year, our fill rates were as low as 52% at one point. We were utilizing personnel from across the district to substitute teach. As a result of several initiatives being implemented, the fill rates have been consistently in the 90% range for the majority of the 2021-22 school year. There are several different types of substitute opportunities across the district. Being a substitute teacher with AISD required 45 college hours up until the Temporary Neighborhood Substitute position was created as a result of the drop in fill rates following the 2019-20 school year. The TemporaryNeighborhood Substitute position requires that an applicant have a high school
diploma or the equivalent. There is a substitute position called Neighborhood Substitute Teacher that was put in place prior to the pandemic for a specific hard to fill high school campus, Palo Duro High School. This was the model for the Temporary Neighborhood Substitute position that allows substitutes with a minimum of a high school diploma or equivalent to work across the entire district. AISD has partnerships with our local community college (Amarillo College) and our local universities (West TX A&M University and TX Tech University). Amarillo College Substitutes are required to be enrolled and have 30 completed college hours. WTAMU/TX Tech 2+1 Substitutes are required to be enrolled in the Classroom Management course on the education path with WTAMU and enrolled in the 2+1 program with TX Tech. Both Amarillo College and WTAMU/TX Tech 2+1 Substitutes receive the higher pay rate, equivalent to substitutes with a college degree. The district also has full-time substitute positions on several campuses across the district. These are called Pre-Assigned Substitutes. They work every day and are offered health benefits. Amarillo ISD has participated with several recruitment opportunities. We have met with students at WTAMU, who are enrolled in Classroom Management, and with students at Amarillo College, who are enrolled in Intro to Teaching and/or members of TEACH Club, to present and answer questions about substituting with AISD. These have been very positive and
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s of Finding and Keeping effective partnerships. We have participated with the City of Amarillo Job Fair, the Amarillo College Marketing Event, the WTAMU Job Fair, virtual job fairs, and had an AISD Job Fair specific to the district needs. AISD has also used radio, social media, and the news to advertise open positions, including substitute teaching. Our recruitment efforts have been successful. Amarillo ISD values our substitutes and wants to retain them once they have been recruited and hired. Pay was increased by $50 per day this school year, 2021-22, for three years using ESSER funds. After that, pay will be reevaluated. Non-degreed substitutes make $132 per day and degreed substitutes make $137 per day. Amarillo College and WTAMU/ TX Tech 2+1 Substitutes make $137 per day. Substitutes are able to work up to 16 days in a calendar month. On the 14th and 15th day of the month that a substitute works, they receive an extra $25 each day. On the 16th day of the month that a substitute works, they receive an extra $50. All substitutes receive an extra $5 for working on Fridays. Using ESSER money over the next three years, substitutes will be eligible to earn an additional $2000 in pay. They will be paid an extra $500 for working 100 days in the 2021-22 school year, an extra $500 for working 100 days in the 2022-23 school year, and an extra $1000 for working 100 days in the 2023-24 school year. This is based on substitutes working all three years beginning in the 2021-22 school year. This year, we have implemented a Substitute of the Month. Each month, the Substitute of the Month is presented with a certificate and gift cards donated by local businesses. The Substitute of the Month is named and recognized through email distribution and Facebook. The recognition consists of a picture of the substitute, quotes from people who have worked with the substitute, and a quote from the substitute. This has been well received. Substitutes are offered the opportunity to attend training throughout the year over the following topics: technology, classroom management and instructional strategies, ESL and special education, safety, and mental health. Training is provided by staff members of the district. AISD
also recognizes substitutes through a Substitute Appreciation Day that is held twice per school year. Campuses bring food, write notes, thank them in person for their service, and a variety of other creative ideas to celebrate substitutes on these two days. In conclusion, it is important that substitutes are recognized for being valued members of any school district they are a part of. We have all experienced what it is like when we are short substitutes and how valuable they are to our districts. Substitutes should be treated as valued members of the district, compensated for their time, recognized when they go above and beyond, and trained appropriately to work with our students. Our students are our top priority above all else and we want the best substitutes to be in the classrooms when our teachers must be gone. I leave you with some quotes of wisdom from some of our Substitutes of the Month: • “The kids, that’s why I do it,” says Larry. “I love teaching and I love kids and at this time in my life I get to do what I want to do, so this is what I am doing.” • Karen said that being a substitute is, “Taking care of someone’s children as if they are my own.” • Rebecca said that being a substitute, “Helps me get teaching experience, meet kids I love, and come up with new classroom ideas for when I have my own classroom.” • “I didn’t realize how emotionally invested I would become in the little kids and their lives.” Laura said that substitute teaching in one word is “rewarding.” • Massoud stated, “If I can set a good example of me that redirects even only one student to the right direction, I have accomplished everything.” • Kay said, “What a privilege it has been to get to be a tiny part of such an outstanding program! I am so grateful for the opportunity to get to sub here!”
TEACHERS READY TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE. Teachworthy candidates enter the classroom ready to engage, connect, and inspire student success.
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28 | HR Connection
Research Results: Paraprofessionals Conducted by Hartwell University – Spring 2022
O
ur nation is facing unprecedented teacher shortages. Covid-19, stress, lack of proper preparation and a host of other pressures are contributing factors. Education colleges are seeing enrollments steadily decline as well.
However, what if a sustainable solution was already in place? What if circumstances just needed to be right to unleash a legion of teachers called to the profession with the heart and grit to succeed? These questions prompted Hartwell University researchers to launch a broad study of paraprofessionals, their desires, their challenges and their capabilities.
Over 1.2 million paraprofessionals serve in our schools nationwide. In Texas alone, over 83,000 serve special needs children, elementary, middle and high school students while working for hourly wages. Our study focused on these Texas public school paraprofessionals. The results were surprising and encouraging. THERE IS HOPE Through a series of surveys and questions we were able to gather useful insights and confirm our belief that paraprofessionals are a viable solution to the teacher shortage. We began by asking paraprofessionals: Do you want to earn your teaching degree?
We were encouraged to learn that 50% of paraprofessionals definitely want to earn their degree and another 43% are considering it. This data caused us to pursue a deeper understanding of what was keeping more paraprofessionals from actually accomplishing this goal.
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s Want to be Teachers We then asked: What are the biggest obstacles keeping you from earning your teaching degree? It is no surprise that paraprofessionals have limited income. When you compare the cost of a typical teaching degree ($67,292) with the amount of Federal Student Aid available ($25,980 typically) paraprofessionals will need to take on student debt to earn their degree. The problem is that only 11% of low-income college students actually graduate and earn their degree leaving those that don’t with the same low-income plus college debt. Many paraprofessionals told us they were not willing to take on debt to earn their degree.
We explored further and asked: How much could you afford to spend monthly on your college education? This data was helpful to understand the financial limitations paraprofessionals are facing. 41% believe they can only afford up to $50 a month in tuition. 68% can afford less than $100 a month. 32% can afford more than $100 per month. Of the 83,000 paraprofessionals in Texas, 50% (41,500) “definitely” want to earn their teaching degree. Of these 41,500, thirty-two percent (32%) could afford Hartwell’s tuition of $111 per month allowing 13,280 paraprofessionals to earn their teaching degree.
30 | HR Connection
For the other 68% to pursue their degree, other sources of financial support will be necessary. School districts are using tuition reimbursement, education foundation scholarships, small pay raises and other means to assist their paraprofessionals. We went on to ask: How many college credits do you have so far? Given Hartwell’s credit transfer policy that accepts up to 60 credits, 37% of paraprofessionals are only 2 years away from graduating with their teaching degree. 78% of paraprofessionals have earned college credits and would need less time to graduate. This further reduces the cost of completion. The results so far were encouraging. It appears that with an appropriately priced tuition for a degree plan that is available online a significant number of paraprofessionals could earn their teaching degree. But would they stay in education? Turnover is currently the highest it has been among educators. Even though 94% of paraprofessionals responded that they want to earn their teaching degree, will they have the grit to remain teachers? We wanted to learn how long the average paraprofessional has already stayed in education, so we asked: How many years of experience do you have working in K-12 schools?
The results were promising with 76% having 4 or more years of experience. That means that even through the pandemic, paraprofessionals have stayed with teaching.
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So now our questions focused on would paraprofessionals want to pursue a teaching certification area that would fill the most needed vacancies? Would they want to be Special Education certified? or Math? or Science? So we asked: What is your desired Teaching Certification Area?
If we convert these results to real numbers, we can see in the following chart the impact this would have in the specific certification areas.
Desired Certification Area
Want to Earn Their Teaching Degree
Paraprofessionals that can afford Hartwell’s Tuition
K-6 Core Subjects
37.20%
15,438
4,940
Special Education
27.95%
11,599
3,712
Other
17.79%
7,383
2,363
Math 7-12
4.78%
1,984
635
Social Studies 7-12
4.63%
1,921
615
4-8 Core Subjects
3.44%
1,428
457
ELAR 7-12
2.39%
992
317
Science 7-12
1.79%
743
238
32 | HR Connection
These results are encouraging. If prepared educators in these quantities were added to these certification areas, it would make a significant difference in the teacher shortage. Our final question sought to determine if paraprofessionals wanted and expected their degree program content to be applicable to teaching. There are numerous online degree programs that may be affordable and doable for paraprofessionals, but will these students be satisfied with a degree that doesn’t relate to teaching? Are they aware of the real need to be prepared as an educator? We asked: How important is it to you that your degree be applicable to teaching? The positive side of this data is that paraprofessionals seem to be very aware of the need to be prepared as an educator. The downside is that the number of college program options that fit all the requirements detailed in this survey are limited.
CONCLUSIONS AND ACTIONS Based on this study, institutions of higher education must include all of the following characteristics to unleash this potential source of qualified teachers. Any missing element significantly closes the opportunity for paraprofessionals. 1. Paraprofessionals want and recognize the importance of a teaching degree that will prepare them for success as an educator. They do not want a degree that does not prepare them to be great teachers 2. Paraprofessionals have limited income, do not want debt, but are willing to pay on average $100 per month for tuition. Consistent predictable monthly payments are critical due to the fixed limited income of paraprofessionals. 3. The degree must be online. Paraprofessionals cannot attend classes on college campuses due to work, family, and other obligations. Their time is very limited, and an online degree program is the only option that will fit their schedules. 4. The degree must align with teacher certification requirements. Paraprofessionals have an average of six (6) years of experience and know the certification they want to obtain. ABOUT HARTWELL UNIVERSITY Hartwell University, based in Dallas, Texas is exclusively an educators university focused on providing an affordable online path for the non-certified staff in schools to become highly prepared educators. Hartwell partners with school districts to offer their non-certified staff institutional scholarships so that they can earn their teaching degree. To learn more about partnering with Hartwell, contact Chris Merrell at chris.merrell@ hartwell-education.org.
Survey Statistics: 703 responses were received from paraprofessionals in Texas with a wide range of demographics. Margin of error is +/- 3.68% based on population size of 83,000 paraprofessionals.
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West Texas Mini-Conference Recap
T
he TASPA 2022 West Texas Mini-Conference was held on March 24-25 at the Lubbock Civic Center in Lubbock, TX. We had 68 attendees and 9 sponsors. We are especially grateful to our Diamond Sponsors: ESS, Frontline, iteachTEXAS, Kelly Education, and Texas Teachers of Tomorrow, and our Gold Sponsors: Edustaff, Red Rover and Teachworthy. With their support, we were able to bring services and professional development to west Texas. During the two day conference, TASPA was able to host three general sessions and 12 breakout sessions. We had 13 speakers that included law firms: Abernathy, Roeder, Boyed & Hullett, P.C.; Eichelbaum Wardell Hansen Powell & Muñoz, P.C.; J. Cruz & Associates, LLC; and Walsh Gallegos Treviño Kyle & Robinson, P.C. We also had presentations from HR practitioners, TEA and TRS. Thank you to speakers, sponsors, TASPA board members, TASPA staff and TASPA members to help make this conference a huge success! We hope you will join us for again this year for our TASPA Conferences!
