Pulaski County Public Schools continues to struggle with issues from the current staffing shortage. We had six vacant bus driver positions and seventeen vacant teaching positions today. The consistent shortages are beginning to take a toll on the ability of our educators to sufficiently plan for instruction and provide feedback to students because they are frequently having to use their planning periods to cover for employees who are out and for whom substitutes could not be secured. Teachers are also having to spend longer periods of time on bus duty in the afternoons to help supervise students whose bus routes have been impacted by the shortage of drivers.
We know from examining our previous employee attendance data for the year and looking at upcoming leave requests that Fridays are going to be incredibly difficult to staff during the month of October. We simply do not have enough substitutes, who are available to work on Fridays, to cover the scheduled and unscheduled absences. Therefore, we will be implementing the following plan for virtual instruction for October 2021:
1. Friday, October 8, 2021 will be an asynchronous virtual day for Pulaski County Middle, Critzer Elementary, & Pulaski Elementary.
2. Friday, October 15, 2021 will be an asynchronous virtual day for Pulaski County High School, Riverlawn Elementary, Dublin Elementary, & Snowville Elementary.
3. Friday, October 22, 2021 will be an asynchronous virtual day for all schools.
4. Friday, October 29, 2021 is a scheduled day off for all students.