In June 2023, 45 complaints were submitted to address facility issues at Stege Elementary School, including moldy walls, broken floor tiles and inoperable windows, according to the statement. Six months later, three complaints were filed to address teacher vacancies at Stege Elementary, Helms Middle and Kennedy High School.
Under the Williams complaint process, school districts have 30 days to remedy the issues and 45 days to respond in court. West Contra Costa officials have not resolved the problems within the legally allowed time, according to Public Advocates.
Instead of trying to fill open teaching positions legally, Provenza said, the district has relied on substitutes who aren’t authorized for long periods, which is illegal.
District officials could not immediately be reached for comment. But in response to the teacher vacancy complaints, West Contra Costa officials acknowledged their practice of relying on substitutes isn’t lawful.
District officials said vacancies weren’t filled because of teacher transfers and late notices from teachers who left the district in the 2022–23 school year. The district also blames statewide systemic issues for contributing to the problem. Beginning in 2021, California schools had significant increases in teacher vacancies and declines in the number of new teachers, the response said, as the pandemic caused many educators to leave the profession.
When substitutes aren’t available, other teachers in the buildings have to take on more work and sacrifice prep times to cover classes, Provenza said.
West Contra Costa’s failure to address poor conditions at schools and teacher vacancies “creates a vicious cycle,” said co-counsel Dane Shikman from Munger, Tolles, & Olson.
“Teachers leave or don’t apply for a position, in part, because of poor facilities at the school,” Shikman said in a statement. “And resulting teacher vacancies drive down student performance and attendance, causing stakeholders — including District administrators — to lose confidence and reduce investment in the school and its facilities. This suit is intended to break that cycle, so that WCCUSD students have a fighting chance to succeed in school.”
A parent at Stege Elementary, Darrell Washington, who is not a complainant, said his son hasn’t been set up for success.
“Last year he had two or three different teachers,” Washington said in a statement. “It felt like a chaotic game of musical chairs. This system is not supportive for my child or any child at Stege. As a community activist, I want to raise awareness about what is happening at the school, not just for my son, but because it is a disservice to all of our children.”
Students without a permanent teacher become less engaged and curious about learning, said Raka Ray, an English teacher at Kennedy High. Ray has also observed that students are more likely to skip class, get in fights and be “addicted to their phones.”
Teacher vacancies are also disproportionately affecting students of color. Stege Elementary has about 38% Black or African American students and 34% Hispanic or Latino students in the 2022–23 school year, according to data from the state Department of Education.
Nearly 83% of students at Helms Middle are Hispanic or Latino and about 7% are Black or African American, data show. About 73% of students at Kennedy High are Hispanic or Latino and nearly 18% are Black or African American.
“For marginalized students who come from high-trauma backgrounds, having a sense of stability is extremely important for their academic success,” Ray said in a statement. “What I’ve seen with the vacancies is that my students have lost hope in the educational system to provide them with a better future.”
Addressing teacher vacancies
Superintendent Chris Hurst addressed teacher vacancies at Wednesday’s board meeting, saying the human resources team is “working hard” to fill positions before school resumes.
As of this week, Hurst said, there are 76 open elementary teacher positions, 23 vacancies for secondary teachers, and 13 openings for special education teachers. There are also 247 open classified positions in the district, most being paraprofessionals.
Elementary schools with three or more vacancies include Stege, Bayview, Coronado, Harding, Verde, and West County Mandarin. Secondary schools with three or more vacancies are Korematsu, Pinole Valley, Richmond, and Kennedy.
The district has been to 37 job fairs in the last year and relies on partnerships to hire and recruit teachers, Hurst said. West Contra Costa has partnerships with 35 universities, Teach for America, teacher residency programs, and retired teachers. The district also utilizes various job boards and has three upcoming job fairs this summer.
The district has already hired 10 teachers in the last two weeks, Camille Johnson, associate superintendent of human resources, said at the meeting. However, if not every teacher vacancy is filled this summer, Johnson said the district will fall back on substitutes. There are day-to-day, 30-day and 60-day substitutes, she added.
This story originally appeared in EdSource.
