LaSalle Catholic Staff Continues To
Buck Employment Turnover Trends!
Educators are leaving the field at unprecedented rates. The news has been telling the story for months, and especially since August. Many school administrators know that rural school staff shortages provide a forecast for shortages in more urban areas. As such, since 2018, we have been mindful of the potentially narrowing pool of candidates that we would encounter by the early 2020s. In addition to what we already knew, increased political divisions and fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic have resulted in a troubling new pattern. In spite of all of this, the staff at LaSalle Catholic has remained very consistent relative to other schools.
For example, LaSalle has only hired a few teachers and a few staff members each year for the last three years. For the fall of 2018, we hired three new teachers. The following year, we hired just one new teacher. For this fall, we have hired 5 new teachers. Each of these three years, hired only three new staff members, including part-time employees (but not including part-time high school students who assist in after school care). With a team of over 60 people, that is unusually low and very awesome!
Upon resuming fall workshops a few weeks ago, I can honestly say that it is no mystery why our staff keeps returning each fall. The esprit de corps of our staff is remarkable. While the labors of returning to a new school year are many, they lift one another up with a love for the faith and a love of our work that is palpable.
The news tells an important story, and educators do need to be honored and appreciated. We are blessed with an excellent team at LaSalle Catholic. The appreciation we receive from school families and our parishes helps to sustain our team in the most important and valuable work of raising up the children entrusted to us. With a bit of grace, we will continue to maintain our trend and return this same amazing group twelve months from now!