Staff Shortages In Chatham; District Holds Hiring Event

CHATHAM, NJ — Chatham school officials have issued another plea for additional paraprofessionals and substitute teachers as the district continues to struggle with staff shortages.

Over the last year, the School District of the Chathams has stated that they are still grappling with an educational staff shortage as they work to fill various teaching vacancies in the district.

To combat this within Chatham, the district is holding three open houses planned for Oct. 11, 18 and 25.

The open houses will be from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Board of Education building (259 Lafayette Avenue) for anyone interested in becoming a paraprofessional or substitute for the 2023-2024 school year.

Attendees will be able to meet with members of the school district's Human Resources team and will be interviewed for open positions immediately following the event.

The district is offering multiple part-time paraprofessional and substitute job openings at the high school, middle school, and elementary levels. Students who have recently completed their college education are also invited to apply.

The School District of the Chathams has been publicly confronted with a continuing decline in both teachers and paraprofessionals within the district for several months and has been looking for ways to attract new employees.

Bradley Smith, chair of the board's finance and facilities committee, has previously said that one of the few things that would help keep staff within the district is more money.

According to the board, one benefit of the approved referendum was to assist the district in retaining teachers and paraprofessionals who are currently leaving to teach in other school districts.

The second question proposed to voters for the November election requests $900,000 to give health care benefits to paraprofessionals and make it a permanent part of the baseline budget, with a 1.30 percent yearly increase.

According to LaSusa, prior to 2008, the school district provided health benefits to paraprofessional staff because they were full-time employees.

However, in order to manage the district's budget after 2008, the district chose to convert all full-time positions into part-time work in order to generate additional employees without having to pay for health benefits.

"In recent years, it's been increasingly difficult to find staff willing to do these jobs, and it's been increasingly common that we are losing staff to other districts that offer health benefits," LaSusa said.

Caryn Badian, a speech pathologist at the Lafayette School, spoke out at the beginning of this year, expressing her frustrations about how the teacher shortage is affecting teachers in the district.

"We are constantly changing schedules, last minute notice to cover classes and expected to continue to achieve at the highest level," Badian said.

Applicants who want to work for the district but are unable to attend the Open House event should apply online here.

Potential applicants with questions may contact Beth Grant, Chief Human Resources Officer, via email at [email protected].