CLEVELAND — Three weeks ago, Jamie Hall sat down with News 5 and shared concerns about her son’s first-grade class at Valley View Boys Leadership Academy, which is part of the Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD).
She said her son was being cheated of a proper education due to the lack of a permanent teacher in his classroom.
In News 5’s original report, Hall said she learned days before the school year that the assigned first-grade teacher wasn’t returning.
Watch News 5's original report where Jamie Hall explained the challenges her family was experiencing.
Hall said this led to inconsistencies in the classroom, with several substitute teachers coming and going and, at times, class splitting.
"Half the class went to kindergarten. Half the class went to second grade,” Hall said. “Nobody was happy about it."
News 5’s Damon Maloney promised to Follow Through to try and get answers for the Halls and other impacted families.
Friday, Maloney revisited Hall.
“We just had like no idea what was going on every day when we sent him off to school,” Hall said.
“Do you feel like speaking out and bringing light to this helped?” Maloney asked her.
“I do,” Hall said.
She said progress is being made.
“We've been let down before. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed,” Hall said. “But I am starting to see the consistencies and the normal things that you like expect when you have a full-time teacher.”
The Cleveland Teachers Union told News 5 that staffing shortages lead to class splitting across the district daily, and it’s not sustainable or good for children on a regular basis.
"The stability a teacher brings to our students is invaluable and each of our scholars deserves the best teacher they possibly can have,” said Stephen Christian, talent and human resources officer at CMSD. “And we're actively recruiting those staff as we go."
Christian said the district has 190 teacher vacancies and is down 100 substitutes from pre-pandemic levels.
The district said it is aggressively recruiting and cited results from a Feb. 29 job fair.
“We had just over 40 job offers that were accepted,” Christian said. “So, that includes substitute teachers substitute paraprofessionals (and) substitute secretaries."
The district said it’s also pushing the state's alternative teacher certification, which is open to individuals with bachelor’s degrees who want to transition to teaching.
Hall said it isn’t clear if she will stick with Valley View Boys Leadership Academy next school year.
"We need to reach out and do a little more research in the community and talk to more people and visit more schools. But it's not out of the question."
CMSD said it's planning another job fair. For more information about the district's career opportunities, click here.
