About a third of all LCSD1 staff losses from Cheyenne's South High

Yahoo

4 days ago

CHEYENNE — A Cheyenne high school freshman saw half of his teachers quit over the course of the 2024-25 school year, according to his mother, Heather Dodson.
Dodson told the Wyoming Tribune Eagle the unexpected loss of his teachers disrupted her son's ability to learn. As a result, she removed her child from math class and enrolled him in summer school.
'It's really impacted his education. He's a bright student,' Dodson said. 'But it's a constant daily struggle to get him engaged, to turn in his work, when you don't have consistency.'
Since last August, South High has lost nearly 40 members of its staff, according to data from Laramie County School District 1 obtained by the Wyoming Tribune Eagle. Certified staff, which includes classroom teachers, nurses, counselors and specialists, made up around 70% of this turnover.
'My son said, 'They just look dead,'' Dodson said. 'Not just teachers, from what I hear, it's the support staff, as well.'
Teacher recruitment and retention is not an issue isolated to Wyoming's largest district, said South High math teacher Dan Marcum. It's an issue happening in schools across the state and the country — and 'it's getting worse,' he said.
'It's getting harder and harder for people to want to go to the classroom,' Marcum said.
'The nature of education has changed tremendously in the 40 years that I've been in the classroom.'
With the rise in behavioral issues and student apathy toward learning, new teachers are entering the profession unprepared, Marcum said. Excessive cellphone use in the classroom, coupled with chronic absenteeism, makes it difficult for teachers to keep their students engaged in the lessons.
'If I were now thinking about (going into teaching) … I might be looking elsewhere,' Marcum said.
LCSD1 teacher turnover
Superintendent Stephen Newton told the WTE in an emailed statement there were 115 resignations and retirements across the district, as of May 28. However, he noted this is a 'sharp decline' from the total three years ago.
In the 2022-23 school year, the district saw 161 resignations and retirements by certified staff. In the 2023-24 school year, that number was 131, according to Newton.
'Every year, LCSD1 employees leave the district for a variety of reasons,' Newton said. 'Although we cannot speculate about the reasons people resign, it appears this is a nationwide issue, as there are fewer people who choose to go into the field of education.'
Newton listed several trending concerns from teachers, including:
* Workload and time demands, especially regarding planning and assessment expectations.
* Student behavior and the need for more consistent support and resources to manage classrooms effectively.
* Concerns about compensation and benefits in relation to the cost of living.
* Desire for greater input into decision-making and curriculum implementation.
District administration is conducting exit interviews and reviewing recruitment and retention strategies in response to this issue, Newton said. The LCSD1 Board of Trustees is examining compensation and workload concerns, as well as advocating at the state level for more resources, he added.
'Recruiting and retaining high-quality educators is a top priority for LCSD1, and like many districts across the state and country, we recognize this is an ongoing challenge,' Newton said. 'We are competing in a tight labor market, especially in hard-to-fill areas such as special education, math and science.'
He and other district administrators are open to hearing the concerns of teachers and support staff, Newton said, and continue to find ways to better support educators in the classroom.
'They don't value me'
South High teacher Tascha Burton is a fifth-generation teacher who has taught English in LCSD1 since 2003, primarily in the South triad. She told the WTE her passion for teaching runs deep, but recent action taken by the Wyoming Legislature has made her feel undervalued as a teacher.
'I know that I'm not worthless,' Burton said.
For more than two decades, Burton has educated generations of Cheyenne families. She's stayed in touch with several of her former students, educated their children, attended their weddings and written letters of recommendation.
But the lack of pay raises and increased pressure from the Legislature has made her question if she wants to stay in the profession.
For 18 years, Burton also taught at Laramie County Community College two nights a week so she could support her children.
'We haven't had a good raise in 20 years,' Burton said. 'Two years ago, the raise was about $158 a month for me, but my mortgage went up $154.'
The last 'huge' pay hike Burton received was in her second year teaching for the district, when she received a $10,000 raise. Other raises have been small, or ones she'd earned by earning two master's degrees.
'Our health insurance costs are going up in July, but our raise doesn't come into effect until September,' Burton said. 'I don't even know if our raise is going to cover the increase of our health insurance.'
She thought about applying for another job over the spring and was ready to create a resume. However, when Burton attended a local soccer game, she drove back home in tears.
'I'm not ready to leave my students, and I love my colleagues,' Burton said. 'I think the Legislature wants to get rid of public education. … That's what their actions show me.'
This year, state lawmakers passed the Steamboat Legacy Scholarship Act. This law expands the current education savings account program by increasing per-student spending from $6,000 to $7,000 to attend a private K-12 school program, including homeschooling.
Approximately $30 million from the state's general fund was appropriated toward this program.
'They want to fund people who want to educate in their home, or they want to fund people who want to send their kids to private schools,' Burton said. 'And the message in that is, 'We don't value you as a public educator.''
State actions impact teachers
In the recent legislative session, Wyoming lawmakers successfully repealed gun-free zones in most areas of the state, including public schools. Last year, a new parental rights bill passed by the Legislature created additional duties for K-12 school districts related to parental notification and consent.
Marcum said these new laws have caused 'a stress point for a lot of teachers.'
He personally struggles with the new gun policy 'a lot.' As a parent, Marcum doesn't think allowing concealed carry in public schools is 'the right approach.' During the LCSD1 board meeting on Monday, teachers union representatives recommended an option to hold parent-teacher conferences virtually.
'I was glad to see the (Cheyenne Teachers Education Association) bring it up,' Marcum said. 'I honestly feel that I'm going to have an unequal balance of power now, if I'm in a parent meeting.'
Burton said the parental rights bill has created a burden for her in the classroom, requiring her to tell a parent if a student discloses their sexual orientation or gender identity. She views that as a betrayal of that student's trust.
'I've had students write essays and come out to me before,' Burton said. 'But under the new law … I would have to contact their parents, and that doesn't seem fair, to have someone trust me and then feel like I'm betraying their trust.'
Students are disengaged
Marcum and Burton said chronic absenteeism and excessive cellphone use are major disruptors in today's student learning environment. Marcum noted there's been an increase in the number of school activities and programs that are pulling students out of the classroom.
As a result, they're falling behind in their classwork, and the pressure is on teachers to keep them up to speed. Students with extreme behavior issues also tend to be the same ones with chronic absenteeism, he said.
Teachers are held responsible to find 'creative ways' to engage these students and keep them at a proficient learning level.
'It's just an overwhelming challenge,' Marcum said. 'Our administration is not really fully grasping the challenges, I think, that a lot of teachers are having to deal with.'
Burton said there's more pressure from administrators on teachers to keep students engaged.
'I feel like there's a bigger push for us to entertain our students,' she said.
Both teachers told the WTE they need better support from the district to ban cellphone use in the classroom. Students no longer try to sneak their phone out during instruction time, they said. But it's an ongoing battle between the teacher and the student to give it up.
Marcum described the district's current cellphone policy as a 'word salad' that's 'not really workable.'
Cellphones are considered to be a 'portable electronic device' in the LCSD1 student handbook. The policy recognizes the 'educational value in utilizing' these devices and leaves it to 'the discretion of the classroom teacher or a building administrator.' Students with an individualized education program (IEP) that requires this device are exempt from this policy.
'The district policy … is open to interpretation,' Marcum said, adding that cellphone use policies vary from school to school. These inconsistencies make it difficult for teachers to restrict the use of cellphones in their classroom.
'The general policy should be something that's easily implementable and consistently implemented at all schools,' Marcum said.