BELGRADE — The superintendent for the Belgrade school district says they basically have a help-wanted sign slapped on their doors right now. They're having to find new ways to deal with severe staffing shortages.
Alexandra Dinwiddie is a junior at Belgrade High School. She says the students can tell how stressed teachers and staff are right now.
“It’s a lot,” said Dinwiddie. “We only have about two subs that switch out. Everyone is kind of doing their own thing and a lot of students are just hanging out in the cafeteria.”
The Belgrade school district has 68 more kids than it did last year for a total enrollment of 3,409 students. Superintendent Godfrey Saunders says they are having issues with hiring. Especially substitutes, custodians, food service, and bus drivers.
“I think we're down about eight custodians district-wide,” said Saunders. “As for bus drivers, we're down about seven or eight.”
Because of this, the schools are having to adjust the bus routes. Originally there were 32 routes and now there are only 26.
Scott Lilyquist has been the director of transportation for the Belgrade school district for eight years. Now, on top of his normal duties, he is also having to drive school buses.
“I'm always hopeful that this will turn around but with the economy the way it is and people moving to Gallatin valley, they don't always need a part-time job,” said Lilyquist.
Dinwiddie says she has even seen food service employees at the school struggle.
"The teachers and staff help out sometimes with serving food,” said Dinwiddie.
Belgrade is digging deep to be fully staffed, and they're experimenting with parent volunteers. The Parents On Duty Program started in July. Saunders says their staff can't be everywhere all at once. These parent volunteers serve as an extra set of eyes.
“It's a safety issue,” said Saunders. “Monitoring crosswalks and things like that are difficult to manage when you can’t find people to work.”
The school district is also partnering with the Chamber of Commerce to get more substitutes. The program is called BOSS. Businesses will send one or two employees to substitute teach at Belgrade schools
Kristi Gee, the Chamber of Commerce CEO says they can't say for sure what businesses will be participating, but training will begin at the end of October. The program will launch in November.
“We already know there's a workforce shortage, so this won't work for everyone,” said Gee. “Even if we can get 5 or 6 businesses to send a substitute teacher on a given day that really makes a big impact.”
If you’re interested in these programs, call the Belgrade School District main office at 406-924-2492
“I hope we can get more staff so we don't stress the teachers out more,” said Dinwiddie.
