In mid-October, Clarence Moody packed up his superhero-themed classroom decorations and put them into hibernation.
A fourth-grade teacher slid a plastic tub, supply baskets, and a few boxes into his van. This is where, after more than four months, an Iron Man statue, student-made artwork and other mementos reside.
Moody, who had dropped out of class to re-enter the corporate world, cannot separate himself from him.
"If I come back, I'll be ready to go," he said on a recent afternoon. "This is my mobility education toolkit."
The 55-year-old is among Clark County teachers who have resigned or retired in recent months, exacerbating teacher shortages and raising alarm during an already difficult period in the PreK-12 region. Huh. As of the end of February, there were 1,270 licensed classroom teacher vacancies in the Clark County School District. According to data received in record requests, it is up from 871 at the beginning of January and 777 at the end of August.
School district officials said last month's big jump reflects vacancies coming online for the next academic year, as teachers have announced imminent retirements or resignations and positions are being added due to projected enrollment growth.
Yet, this is a tough number even for a district that regularly suffers from a shortage of teachers. Moving into the 2019-2020 school year - before COVID-19 emerged and severely disrupted education norms - the school district reported approximately 530 teacher vacancies.
In addition, an analysis by Data Insight Partners, a Las Vegas-based firm that produces education-related data, found a troubling trend: The number of licensed workforce layoffs rose to 970 from August to January. This is an increase of 67 percent over the previous average. decade.
The firm calculated the number by analyzing employee separation declarations it provided to the Clark County School Board of Trustees during those months. Segregation lists show teachers and other licensed professionals, such as social workers and counselors, who have either moved or announced they are leaving the school district for reasons such as retirement, relocation, new job, personal or medical factors, or dissatisfaction with the school district. are leaving. District.
Moody's's name is included in the employee separation list provided to the school board in October. Reason given: "Other employment."
Moody described his decision to walk away as "heartbreaking". His students wept. he cried.
A father of four grown children and five grandchildren, Moody left a career in human resources to pursue his lifelong dream of becoming a teacher. He joined the Alternative Pathways to Licensure (ARL) program – which accelerates the certification process for aspiring teachers who already have a bachelor's degree in another field – and was hired by the school district in October 2015. was taken.
Moody said he loved his students, but by his seventh year in the class, the feeling of overwhelmed and low-support grew stronger. Curriculum material changed constantly, and his Las Vegas school found a new principal just before school started again. Moody said he liked his new principal, but felt he was too burdensome.
And then there was the pandemic factor: Moody's said he felt the district lacked a plan to deal with students' academic deficits after a long period of distance learning. He felt the pressure to keep moving forward instead of revisiting the academic skills the students had missed.
"I found myself disillusioned with the whole process," he said.
When an offer presented itself to return to the corporate world, Moody's accepted. He is working as a Development and Training Manager for a startup company in Los Angeles.
As fears swirl nationally and locally about low teacher morale and what it represents for the profession, the numbers indicate higher-than-normal turnover in Clark County. Many have gone quietly; Others have spoken at board meetings or chronicled their decisions on social media platforms. While no two departure decisions are exactly the same, employee separation data and interviews with former teachers point to some common themes.
Burnout, lack of support and a feeling among teachers that their voices are being unheard at the highest district levels seem to be driving them away from the classroom.