Springdale High School students claim teacher shortage, walk out in protest

Dozens of Springdale High School students staged a walkout Wednesday afternoon to protest what they claim is a severe teacher shortage.

The students, some with signs calling for the school to hire more teachers, lined the edge of the school property to highlight problems at the school allegedly caused by a lack of adequate staffing. Administrators and police watched from a distance.

The school district has denied any sort of teacher shortage.

Before the walkout, the students said the school threatened to punish the students for leaving the school — although they were permitted to stay on the property — which led to the crowd being smaller than the protesting students anticipated.

“We’re just asking for an education,” said Kaitlyn Claus, a senior who organized the event. “We’re asking for more teachers, which is asking to be treated like students. We want to learn, and it’s upsetting that we’re getting punished for trying to learn.”

The school has been using other staff members such as the principal, guidance counselors and nurses as teachers, Claus said. Using a nurse to teach a class is particularly concerning to her because she has health issues and needs to have reliable access to medical staff.

School officials would not allow reporters onto the property to witness the students marching out of the school. However, the students stood at the edge of the property to speak with them.

Bella Savko, a junior, said the situation that led them to protest is “just sad, honestly.”

“Today, we didn’t have teachers; we had five classes in the auditorium watched by, like, two teachers,” Savko said. She said that with teachers leaving the district, more aren’t being hired — leaving students with fewer class options.

Students provided numerous photographs to the Tribune-Review from Wednesday with signs on the doors of teachers instructing them to go to the auditorium.

Madison Shock, a junior, said a lack of electives has left students unprepared for college, and she fears how much worse the teacher shortage could get.

“When you see what happened, what’s it going to look like in a few years here?” Shock said.

District claims no shortage

Allegheny Valley School District officials dismissed the claim that there is any form of teacher shortage.

Although two teachers have left in the past year to take other opportunities, just one position remains vacant, district spokesperson Jan Zastawniak said.

“Allegheny Valley employs 38 teachers at the high school,” Zastawniak said. “Current enrollment for the school is 407 students. Class sizes remain small for most courses.”

There is, however, a shortage of substitute teachers in the area and statewide, she said. When they aren’t available, other staff members will fill in.

Allegheny Valley School Board President Larry Pollick and Vice President Kathleen Haas did not respond to requests for comment.

Parents and outside spectators, though, seem to side with the students.

Brian Claus of Cheswick, Kaitlyn’s father, said he is proud of his daughter, adding he and his wife supported her decision to organize the walkout.

“My wife and I are very proud of her,” he said. “It’s great as a parent to see our daughter is so involved and is so concerned with her education, and just trying to do something proactive and try to address this particular issue.

“It’s disappointing she’s not getting the education that she could be getting. But I’m glad she’s trying to do something to make a difference for kids coming up.”

Jackie Colwes of Springdale Township, who attended Springdale Jr.-Sr. High School, was a substitute teacher at the school and then taught health and physical education for more than three decades in Pittsburgh, said one issue is that schools don’t offer teachers competitive salaries.

“I got a good education here,” Colwes said. “I don’t know why they can’t fix this problem. I’m a baby boomer, and we had more than enough teachers.”

Statewide, Pennsylvania faces an “educator workforce crisis,” according to a report released in July by the Department of Education.

“While the overall numbers of new educators entering the profession continue to decline, the rate of educators leaving the profession continues to accelerate,” the report states. “As a result, schools are facing a harder time filling critical staff positions than ever before.”