Throughout the 2023-2024 school year, nearly 90 percent of schools nationwide reported having trouble hiring positions for both teachers and other staff members and though MHS is very fortunate to have a staff almost full of licensed educators, we are not excluded from this statistic. From the constant new faces in the math department to the bus drivers that we start and end our day with, each staff member has a special role in keeping the school running smoothly.
This year, the school has taken a new approach to filling in vacant spots due to substitute teacher shortages: using various teachers’ plan periods to cover for another.
“I’ve seen how many teachers have covered for other teachers,” English and theater teacher Margaret Matanic said. “They send an email out to teachers asking ‘can you give up your plan to cover this hour?’”
While the shortage of substitutes and math teachers is noticeable, administrators are doing all they can to bring new people and perspectives into the school. Running a school is much like running a business, from hiring staff to ensuring they are fit for the position. Every decision is vital to the success of the business, in our case, the business being students’ long-term education.
“All of our math teachers are licensed math teachers, and not every high school in Indiana can say that,” Principal Morgan Nolan said. “I know a lot of times people say there’s still good teachers out there that aren’t licensed. But you have to have a license to teach in Indiana. So, you either have to figure out a way to get them fast-tracked to get a license or you have to find people with licenses.”
The shortage of bus drivers, however, is a more complicated issue. In fact—it’s a national one.
“From an administrative level, the bottom line is that the kids have to get to school,” transportation secretary Tanya Nelson said. “That means we have to double up on routes. We have our mechanics driving. We have our director driving right now. We’re just doing what needs to be done to get the students to school.”
Handling five schools in our district, from all three elementary schools to MHS along with servicing St. Thomas More and occasionally St. Paul Lutheran, bus drivers are needed to transport kids to and from school. This includes extracurricular activities like field trips, sports, and club events.
“The drivers like to do the field trips,” Nelson said. “A lot of drivers are into the sports. We have one driver, Anthony Osahan, who’s heavy into the theater and the speech and debate. It’s not hard to fill the extracurricular activities.”
Day through night, drivers put their pedal to the metal to get the kids where they need to be. Nelson herself even hops in the driver’s seat on occasion to help fill the gaps.
“Even though we got them, we just don’t have the spare drivers that can hop in and fill a bus route on those mornings or afternoons,” Nolan said. “It’s a very similar problem with the math department. It’s a super competitive market and not a lot of people are certified.”
A commercial driver’s license, or CDL, is required to drive a school bus. Much like truck drivers, a person must pass a written test, skills exam, and additional driver test to acquire a CDL. Additionally, state law requires Indiana teachers to hold a bachelor’s degree, and pass the CORE, or Indiana Core Assessments for Educator Licensure.
“Math, science, bus drivers, even custodians are necessary. The people we have are awesome, but we always feel like we’re short one or two,” Nolan said. “They’re not easy jobs.”
