It’s been more than two months since the academic year started and Española School District administrators are still having difficulty filling essential positions.
In her report, submitted to Española Superintendent Danny Trujillo and Board members for September and October, Human Resources Director Esther Romero wrote, “The Human Resource Department has a lot of challenges at this time in hiring and recruiting staff.”
“My hardest one, one that has been here for a long time, has been the athletic trainer position,” Romero said. “I have called other districts and asked them what they have been doing to recruit, there are a lot of athletic trainer vacancies in the state.”
Romero’s other vacancies include elementary school teachers, high school math and science instructors and educational assistants. She has been searching for candidates to fill some of these positions since August.
In the past, Romero said she had trouble finding special education teachers, but this year, she had difficulty finding anyone to fill the vacancies. She said she has not received any applicants for the positions she posted.
Romero said part of the issue is timing. Teacher recruitment is based on enrollment numbers and she did not know what they would be until the school year began. When she realized she needed additional teachers, most of them had already been hired by Districts in Albuquerque and other states, such as California.
She said California is an attractive option for new teachers because districts in that state offer signing bonuses.
However, Romero said that is part of the problem. She also said the industry is developing and not many college graduates are choosing education as a profession.
“Let’s say you have a master’s degree,” Romero said. “Starting pay for someone with a master’s degree in education is about $32,000. There is Los Alamos Laboratory here. You cannot tell me that someone with a master’s degree in engineering is going to make that kind of money, that person will make more.”
Romero said she has limited flexibility regarding the salaries she can provide. The District has a tight budget and the state regulates employee pay. She said there is a salary schedule she has to follow that dictates the amount an employee can earn based on experience and the number of credits a candidate has.
She also said there have been developments within education that make the job less appealing. Romero said there are also new initiatives that hold teachers more accountable, but not all teachers like the new evaluation system.
“Teachers who have been in the system for a long time may not think it is worth it anymore,” Romero said. “They may think the new rules are just too difficult to deal with.”
Romero also said career advancement requires additional certifications and those certifications require a lot of work. Teachers need to build a portfolio of their work to move forward and that can be tedious.
New Mexico Public Education Department Director of Educator Quality Matt Montaño, said this issue is not isolated to Española. He said nearly every rural school district experiences the same dynamics.
“There are many teachers who do not want to live in rural areas,” Montaño said. “Many people want to live in urban areas where they can go to the movies, go to a restaurant or go to a concert. The problem is that rural areas may not offer that.”
However, not every small, rural community experiences the issue the District has. Romero said Taos is not having issues.
He said Española has a reputation as an area with high drug and crime problems and it also has the status as a political town — many people do not want to deal with that.
“I wish I could get support with what I need,” Española teacher Tranette Turrietta said. “I want an administration that will work for the children.”
Many teachers complained they do not have the materials they need. Some are just now receiving their workbooks for the year. They have been photocopying pages out of textbooks for their students to use as practice problems.
Others said they do not have the support of administrators when they make decisions or try to enforce the rules.
For Romero, the answer is marketing. She is counting on 2 Smooth Advertising owner Barney Trujillo to reimage the District so it is more appealing to potential candidates. She said once the people begin to understand what the District is doing, people will look at the area and the school differently — at least she hopes.
“We hired Barney (Trujillo) so he can create a marketing plan for us,” Romero said. “He has several initiatives coming so hopefully that will help.”