The administration hired a Spanish teacher, who began on Oct. 8, a physics and honors physics teacher, who will begin on Oct. 22, and a paraeducator who filled a vacancy in the special education department.
Principal Adam Littlefield said Keith Callerame will be teaching honors physics for periods one and three, and a regular physics class during period four from Oct. 22 through the end of the first semester.
“In January, he will be full-time teaching periods one, three, four, six, and seven,” Littlefield said. “He is unable to teach periods six and seven between Oct. 22 and the end of the semester due to another commitment.”
Littlefield said the administration interviewed an honors physics teacher on Oct. 12 for periods six and seven from Oct. 22 through the end of the first semester, and if needed, continue interviews through the week of Oct. 15.
Spanish teacher Virginia Leskowski said that Spanish teacher Jessica McMillen observed classes for one week, and then she started teaching on Oct. 8.
“McMillen will be making sure that the students receive the information and practice that they need to be able to move on to Spanish 3,” Leskowski said. “I have reviewed with her what the expectations are for the level two class, so even though the students have missed the first quarter, she will be catching them up.”
Leskowski said that she is excited about McMillen and said that she feels McMillen will be a good fit for the school based on her previous experience and her personality.
“She’s young and energetic and funny, very talented,” Leskowski said. “She lived in Spain for four years and has a background speaking Spanish. She has very high qualifications, but she’s also very personable and seems to really kind connection with students.”
However, Leskowski said that there is still one remaining Spanish 2 class that has a substitute teacher.
“We have a class, with [around] 23 students, that has a substitute, and there is no teacher on the horizon, so I trust that the administration is trying to work on a way to accommodate those students,” Leskowski said.
Regardless if the class has a teacher or not, all of the classes will continue with Edgenuity for the remainder of the semester.
Freshman Bridgette McEfee is a student in the Spanish 2 class that still does not have a teacher, and she said that she is learning how to get the right answers on Edgenuity, but she does not feel that she is learning the material.
“If we just did Edgenuity for the whole year, I would not be comfortable going into Spanish 3,” McEfee said. “I would have no idea what I’m doing.”
Littlefield said that students have been particularly adaptive with the online program, although the Spanish students are moving faster than the physics students.
Littlefield said that he is putting in a lot of outside work for the students in the online classes who do not have a teacher by helping them bypass labs and unlock certain activities. He said that since he is the teacher of record for the classes without an official teacher, he is also uploading grades into Infinite Campus.
“We’re making sure it’s a positive experience, by giving students extra opportunities to do well, like giving them second chances on certain activities,” Littlefield said.
Littlefield said that students have been particularly adaptive with the online program, although the Spanish students are moving faster than the physics students.
“The new people will also need to be trained in how to use Edgenuity,” Littlefield said.
Littlefield said that incorporating new teachers into the school is a collective process, involving other teachers, school administrators, and the district office.
He said that since new teachers do not have traditional teaching credentials, they would have to apply for a short-term permit from the state.
According to a study by the National Bureau of Economic Research, California issued nearly 6,000 emergency-style teaching permits in 2017 alone.
Along with the new physics and Spanish teachers, the administration also found a solution for the vacancy in the special education department by rearranging current teachers’ schedules and caseloads.
“With the .4 special education vacancy, there is a fourth period class that does not have a credentialed teacher in there right now,” special education teacher Nick Bruno said. “[Special education teacher] Kate Warner is going to take over the fourth period class, so she’s also going to take on that caseload.”
Bruno said that Warner will be bumped to 1.2 FTE.
“It’s a little different than general education teachers,” Bruno said. “They teach five classes, while special education teachers teach four classes.”
Bruno said that the .2 is case management work for students who have IEPs, and the remaining .2 is going away.
“There were students without a case manager, and those students are now going to be case managed by the other teachers,” Bruno said.
