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Education officials warn of staffing gaps as ARPA-funded positions return to local budget
Summary
The commissioner and department officials told legislators about 79 employees moved from federal to local payroll, 17 funded vacancies in the FY26 budget and concerns over teacher certification and retirements; lawmakers pressed for recruitment plans and data.
Commissioner Deionne Wells Hedrington and departmental staff told the Legislature’s budget committee that moving positions off expired ARPA funds back onto the local budget poses staffing and fiscal challenges for the coming school year.
“We brought them over prior to the ARPA being taken away … some of the local employees were placed on the ARP budget,” Wells said, noting that 79 positions had been moved from federal to local payroll. She said those roles include critical positions such as teachers, paraprofessionals and IT technicians.
Budget staff later told senators the FY26 budget includes 17 funded vacancies. “We have on the budget for ’26. We have 17 funded vacancies,” a department official told the committee; the department said it would provide totals for unfunded vacancies on request.
Lawmakers also flagged certification shortfalls: the commissioner said roughly 53 percent of teachers lack proper certification and the department is taking steps to address that by incorporating certification into teacher evaluations and offering professional development. “We’ve provided a professional learning suite that gives them professional development courses to get the credit hours so that they can get their recertification,” Wells said.
Regarding anticipated retirements, senators noted 174 employees are eligible to retire while the department recorded 51 new hires; Wells said the department completed a “rightsizing” review and that recruitment is ongoing. “Recruitment is ongoing. We are in competition now, with other states because everybody has teacher shortages,” she said.
Senators pressed for data-driven analysis of certification status and student outcomes. Wells agreed it would be useful to study correlations between certification and teacher performance, and Deputy Commissioner Renee Charleswell noted that certification can affect federal grant funding as part of “highly qualified teacher” requirements.
Committee members requested more detailed vacancy figures and follow-up on recruitment and retention plans. No formal action was taken during the hearing.
