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A 142-page report released this week by the Illinois Association of Regional Superintendents of Schools hammered home a point that everyone in education has become painfully aware of:

It’s hard to find good help these days.

And it’s only getting worse, with 42 percent of school districts statewide reporting worse shortages in filling teaching jobs in the fall of 2022 than the fall of 2021.

A few numbers of note about the educator shortage in our corner of Illinois:

— Among East Central Illinois superintendents surveyed, the majority reported fewer candidates applying for jobs this school year compared to last across the board — be it for teachers (70 percent), support staff (67 percent) or special education positions (72 percent).

— Seventy percent of East Central Illinois districts qualified as “not adequately staffed.”

— One unnamed superintendent in a rural district in East Central Illinois said: “At this time, I am working with 8 people in positions (they) are not certified to do. We could not even find a qualified 3rd grade teacher. We have filled in two principal positions with unqualified individuals. This is at crisis level.”

The report closes with 110 pages’ worth of anonymous superintendent responses to a series of questions, beginning with: “What short-term effects on staffing is your school district experiencing coming out of the pandemic?”

We asked area district leaders for their on-the-record answer to that same question. Here’s what they had to say.

ARCOLA

Tom Mulligan says: “There are certainly fewer candidates for open positions. When you combine the increased academic, social and emotional needs of students as a result of the pandemic with the significant increase in funding, there are more positions than ever that need to be filled with professional staff.”

ARTHUR

Shannon Cheek says: “The demands that are being expected of staff are greater and greater and more and more complicated. All staff are being asked to complete duties that they were not or are not trained for and that is causing undue stress.

”The staff shortage is real as we have multiple positions that remain unfilled.”

BEMENT

Mary Vogt says: “I feel like the biggest short-term effect at Bement has been the demand placed on our staff to take on extra responsibilities to cover for positions that have not been filled due to the teacher shortage.”

BISMARCK-HENNING

Scott Watson says: “The biggest issue is finding quality candidates. There’s just not as much interest in education as there used to be. We used to get 50 to 75 applications for an elementary teaching job. Now, we’re lucky to get two or three.

”Lack of bus drivers is huge as well. We are almost fully staff which puts us in a better situation than a lot of districts.”

BLUE RIDGE

Hillary Stanifer says: “The greatest impact that we’re having with the staffing shortage is an ongoing lack of substitutes across the board — teachers, paraprofessionals, drivers. When we are unable to fill those open positions, last-minute changes have to be made. For teaching positions, that often means that other staff are moved around for the day, covering on their plan time, or our principals are filling in those open spots.

“In a smaller district, when an administrator is subbing on a frequent basis, that means there is no other administrative help available if needed and very frequently that impacts teacher observations and meeting schedules. When driving positions go unfilled, we’re combining routes, delaying arrival times to school and crowding our buses. Last-minute changes to a parent’s morning routine are not easy for anyone.”

”As many educators can relate, the post-pandemic world of education has changed. The impact of the last years is still seen in our students — academically, socially and emotionally. To give that extra support that is needed takes energy and intention on the part of all adults in the building. Doing that with a short-staffed crew can be overwhelming.

"In speaking for Blue Ridge, we do our jobs because we love kids and we want what’s best for them. Knowing that we cannot always meet all their needs is disheartening, but we will not stop giving our best each and every day.”

CERRO GORDO

Brett Robinson says: “For our district, it has been the day-to-day challenge of finding subs when our staff are absent. At times, existing staff — such as paraprofessionals — have been shifted from their primary responsibilities to cover another area when we are unable to secure all the subs we need.”

CHAMPAIGN

Shelia Boozer says: “Rebounding from compassion fatigue. Our staff worked tirelessly to meet the needs of students, while also caring for their families, extended families, the broader community and themselves. We all returned to a new normal and change is inevitable but it can take a toll on people.”

DANVILLE

Alicia Geddis says: “Schools in our area are facing several challenges, including fatigue and stress from staff members that are required to fill (openings) and the challenging student behaviors as a result of the time they have spent away from the structure provided by schools.”

DeLAND-WELDON

Jeff Holmes says: “Faculty and staff having to fill in when we have no subs, teachers, bus drivers and/or custodian. This has been a growing problem for the last few years. “It puts a lot of strain on faculty and staff to fill the gaps. The good thing is that they do it because they do not want to see our students not have what they normally would.”

FISHER

Barb Thompson says: “Finding science teachers. We have been creative in filling these positions, and are very pleased with our current situation, but the shortage is real. Thankfully, we have also been able to fill our special education positions. Many districts have not been as fortunate.”

GIBSON CITY-MELVIN-SIBLEY

 Jeremy Darnell says: “GCMS has been navigating the challenges of the teacher/employee shortage for the past three years and those challenges will continue. GCMS’ isolated geography makes it an uncontrollable factor that has been very present in our struggles to both recruit and retain staff of all categories.

“We have very small class sizes, abundant resources, competitive wages and have even recently added paid maternity and paternity leave for our staff to elevate the total package for attracting new employees.

“We are no different than other service industries in that the demand for perfection is being elevated and the available people to do the work are choosing different paths. I am incredibly thankful for all those in education and service who show up to do the good work.”

HERITAGE

Tom Davis says: “It has been finding enough substitute teachers at times, but thankfully the people we do have on our roster are outstanding and there for us when we call. Raising our daily rate and using in-house substituting period to period some days has also helped.”

HOOPESTON AREA

Robert Richardson says: “The fatigue of our staff from doing other responsibilities due to the lack of certified people to complete them. We have great staff members, but when you rely on the fewer numbers, people get tired and then consider other options for employment.

“Districts do not need another survey to tell us we can’t fill positions within our buildings. If organizations want to make a difference, focus on a solution, not the problem.”

LUDLOW

Jeff Graham says: “We’ve had to get a little creative with our schedule to fill an ELA job, and we still have that job posted. So, I guess my answer would be: fewer teachers.”

MAHOMET-SEYMOUR

Kenny Lee says: “We have seen shortages in applicants from all aspects of our organization, both certified and non-certified. It seems to have had an effect on all job categories for us.”

MONTICELLO

Adam Clapp says: “Teaching through the pandemic was stressful and difficult, but this school year has been a breath of fresh air for our students and staff. Our teachers and staff along with our students are enjoying school again. We pride ourselves in creating positive experiences for our students, and it is so nice to be back focused on those things.

"At Monticello, even through the pandemic, we have been fortunate that we still attract experienced, qualified candidates for our teaching positions.”

OAKLAND

Lance Landeck says: “We were unable to provide industrial technology classes this year and Spanish is being offered online due to no applicants for either open position.”

OAKWOOD

Larry Maynard says: “Fewer young people are interested in pursuing employment in education as well as fewer substitute teachers.”

PAXTON-BUCKLEY-LODA

Cliff McClure says: “The size of the candidate pool has significantly decreased for both certified and non-certified vacancies. The shortage has not only affected staffing during the regular school day but has also impacted staffing to fill extracurricular vacancies.”

POTOMAC

Jim Owens says: “It has been the reality that new teachers are scarce and, for small districts, nearly non-existent. Unfortunately, we cannot compete in salary with larger schools when teachers with experience apply. We appreciate our retirees that have stepped forward to meet some of our needs.”

PRAIRIEVIEW-OGDEN

Jeff Isenhower says: “This shortage is not limited to just teachers and substitute teachers. We have very limited substitutes for bus driving, custodians, cooks and office staff, as well. The added stress of covering everything is taking its toll on all of our employees — from teachers and aides to custodians, cooks and bus drivers, who cover multiple shortages on top of their own jobs.”

RANTOUL CITY SCHOOLS

Scott Woods says: “Any time we are unable to fill a position with a highly qualified candidate, this puts additional stress on our current staff. Compound this stress related to staffing shortages with students’ increased needs following COVID, and the entire system is strained.”

RANTOUL HIGH

Scott Amerio says: “Finding qualified staff to fill all of our positions. But that was also an issue before the pandemic.”

ST. JOSEPH GRADE SCHOOL

Todd Pence says: “We have been able to fill all our positions, but in the past we would get dozens of quality applicants and now we are lucky to get a couple.”

ST. JOSEPH-OGDEN

Brian Brooks says: “The lack of teaching candidates, and just the lack of candidates out there for various positions in schools in general. We have been very lucky thus far landing some great candidates, but worry every time we have an opening due to the lack of depth that is out there.”

SALT FORK

Phil Cox says: “While we have been fortunate to fill our teaching positions with certified teachers, many districts have not. As a result, they have had to rely on full-time subs, which has severely shrunk the sub pool, which in turn impacts all districts. Our teachers and administrators are regularly being asked to do internal subbing so that we get classes covered.”

THOMASBORO

Bonnie McArthur says: “The lack of personnel in all areas, including cooks, janitors, teachers and substitute teachers.”

TUSCOLA

Gary Alexander says: “Subs have been hard to find. That puts additional stress on the staff as they make sure every child is getting a quality education. “Paraprofessionals are hard to find. I feel like we have had one or two openings for paraprofessionals all year. I know area schools are facing similar problems.”

UNITY

Andy Larson says: “We have had to get creative with scheduling and had to fill some teaching vacancies with long-term subs since the beginning of the year. We are in a much better place with support staff and bus drivers since we contract with First Student.

”I am hopeful with some of the accelerated teaching programs that we will have certified teachers filling our openings for the fall.

“The biggest issue coming out of the virus has been trying to fill special education teacher positions, especially since we are seeing so many children with individual plans and making sure we are serving those students appropriately.”

URBANA

Jennifer Ivory-Tatum says: “We are doing our best to come up with creative and innovative ways to bolster our recruitment and retention efforts; however, the bottom line is we continue not to have enough qualified applicants to fill teacher and teacher assistant positions.

“In years past, we have had options for hiring; unfortunately, now, we are lucky to have one or two qualified applicants for the same openings. Sometimes, we have zero applicants and fill positions with long-term substitutes, many of whom are excellent but not always the best substitute for a licensed, trained educator.

“The domino effect then happens because we have to fill our open vacancies long-term with our highly competent subs, leaving our day-to-day sub pool with fewer people for the daily coverage needed to keep classrooms covered when teachers are ill or have emergencies.

"This then leads to an added burden on the entire school because everyone in the building is helping to sub or cover shortfalls, causing higher-than-normal stress levels for our principals and teachers.”

VILLA GROVE

Carol Munson says: “Hands down, it’s the decline in interest in pursuing education as a career. There are fewer numbers and the quality of candidates is not the same as 10 years ago.”

WESTVILLE

Seth Miller says: “It is very challenging to find people who are seeking education as a career. This has led to fewer teacher candidates, a greater reliance on retired teachers to re-enter the classroom and a larger need to fill long-term positions with substitute teachers. Without retired and substitute teachers, it would be virtually impossible to staff schools in East Central Illinois.

“The sub shortage is real and we must continue to work to make education a profession that is respected, valued and compensated for the profound importance it has in our communities.”