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Pennsbury reports staffing gains, transportation improvements and expanded 'Grow Your Own' pipeline
Summary
District administrators reported improved coverage across roles, a strengthened transportation staffing plan with floaters to reduce cancellations, and expansion of Grow Your Own teacher apprenticeship slots to address hard‑to‑fill special‑education positions.
District administrators provided the board with an annual staffing update emphasizing areas of strength and ongoing vacancies.
Dr. Gibson reported that overall staffing levels are in good shape, with targeted efforts to address hard‑to‑fill roles. She said paraprofessionals remain the largest operations group (about 250 employees) and that some special‑education positions remain difficult to fill: full‑time substitute positions in special education, teacher of the deaf/hard of hearing positions, certified school nurses, speech pathologists, psychologists and BCBAs.
Transportation: Dr. Gibson reported 87 driver positions with 79 routes that require a CDL and eight 'floater' drivers who serve as daily substitutes to minimize canceled routes and delays.
Recruitment and retention: retention data across the past five years show declining exits among professional staff, which administrators called a positive trend. The district is using emergency certifications in limited cases and has developed apprenticeship programs with local universities to convert paraprofessionals into certified special‑education teachers; a one‑year special‑education certification option for those with a bachelor’s degree was also described.
The policy committee recommended four additional positions in the Grow Your Own program to extend the pipeline; that recommendation was included on the consent agenda.
Ending: the administration said all classrooms are currently covered and that the district will continue recruitment and education‑pipeline initiatives to reduce reliance on emergency certifications.
