Around six months after nearly 50 teachers at Schuyler Community Schools suddenly opted to leave the district — causing some teachers and community members to fear for the future of the school — the staffing ranks are almost full once again.
The school district in Schuyler, a town of more than 6,000 people east of Columbus, started the 2024-25 school year with only two open positions — one for a high school Spanish teacher and another for a high school band teacher, according to Superintendent Bret Schroder.
Between January and March of this year, 48 certified staff members unexpectedly left the district, some opting to retire early, while a majority resigned. To fill the teaching ranks by the start of this school year, the district advertised in various places, including locally and internationally.
Job positions were shared through Teach In Nebraska, which is where most schools advertise job listings in the state, and through another organization that advertises across the country. The school district also hired a company that helps place qualified teachers from the Philippines in schools across America.
Through these methods, Schroder said they were able to hire two teachers from North Carolina, a handful from across the state and 13 people from the Philippines.
The district is continuing to search for teachers to fill the final two open positions, and Schroder hopes they will officially be fully staffed by the start of second semester.
This is the first time in seven years that Schuyler has had a full special education staff. Last school year, Schuyler still had 12 open positions districtwide on the first day of school.
In April, as more and more announcements of teachers leaving the district rolled in, community members began to worry what would happen at the start of this school year with so many staff gone. And many began to place blame on the district’s leadership.
At the time, Schroder said many of the resignations came from teachers who were leaving for personal reasons; however, some community members felt it was primarily because of changes Schroder had made since he took over as superintendent last August, specifically his decision to change the way the dual language program would operate.
In late February, Schroder announced the program, which allows elementary students to learn in both English and Spanish, would be changing locations, causing some community outrage.
Students in the program were previously bused to a building owned by the district 12 miles away in Richland, but Schroder opted to move the program to empty classrooms in the elementary building instead, which some parents and teachers worried was a step toward diminishing the program.
However, Schroder remains optimistic that the program will continue to flourish in its new location, and has heard good feedback from students in the program so far, he said.
While he admits last year ended on a rough note, Schroder said he’s excited to continue this school year with a nearly full staff and work to focus on retaining the district’s many quality teachers.
“This year, hopefully we're putting those things past us,†he said. “(I’m) very excited that the kids in the dual language program seem to be very happy. That seems to be going well. And now just focusing on what's best for our kids and also on teacher retention.â€