CHESTER COUNTY, S.C. — Thousands of school districts across the country are preparing to provide special education services for the upcoming school year. But some South Carolina districts join those having trouble finding teachers to support these programs.
The Chester County School District said it's about 90% staffed, but positions in areas like special education have been a challenge to fill.
“There are certain requirements that and certifications that are required to be able to kind of get into those roles and it's very difficult to find instructors," Chris Christoff, a Chester County School District spokesman, said. "We've provided incentives, sign-on bonuses. We had teacher raises.”
According to the latest data from the U.S. Department of Education, 15% of all public school students - which is roughly more than seven million students - live with autism, a developmental delay, or another intellectual challenge.
Federal law requires those students to receive free and appropriate education, but Dr. Charles Walters with advocacy group Able SC said finding teachers to help is an issue as old as the law itself.
“The issue is, I think, much more pronounced than ever nationally and within our state, especially right now. It's contextualized within the issue of teacher shortages in general," Walters said. "We see this much more pronounced in rural areas. We see this much more pronounced in areas of lower socioeconomic status.”
Lancaster, Fort Mill, Rock Hill, and Clover are just some of the districts that say they're also looking for special education teachers.
Walters said the result of these openings leads to students receiving alternative services.
“We see schools that are doing whatever they can just to make the day-to-day happen," Walters said.
The Chester County School District said in the past, it's outsourced therapists who speak with students virtually or look for other teachers within the district who may have skills that can help.
“Every child will be serviced to the best of our district and what we can offer and they will have an education," Walters said.
Data on statewide vacancies for the upcoming school year are expected to be released in the fall.
Contact Kayland Hagwood at khagwood@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.