The Kanawha County Board of Education unanimously approved two staffing contracts totaling up to $1.4 million annually Monday as the school district continues to struggle to fill teaching and support positions serving students with disabilities.
District officials told board members that nearly 90% of the school system's more than 40 service personnel vacancies and more than 70 professional vacancies involve special education.
The board voted 5-0 to approve separate agreements with Sunburst Workforce Advisors and Amergis Healthcare Staffing. The contracts allow the district to obtain certified teachers, aides and behavioral support personnel to fill short- and long-term vacancies.
The Sunburst agreement authorizes spending of up to $1 million annually, while the Amergis contract carries a $400,000 annual limit. Both agreements allow the district to obtain services as needed, meaning the combined $1.4 million represents a spending ceiling rather than a commitment to spend the full amount.
Administrators said the district has struggled for several years to recruit and retain employees in certain special education classrooms, leaving positions unfilled despite continued efforts to hire permanent staff.
"We continue to run the job vacancies, and if someone picks the job up and is hired, of course we put them in," Superintendent Paula Potter told the board. "But these are for the positions that we aren't having anyone apply for."
The district already has 43 aides and five certified special education teachers working through Amergis, according to administrators. Officials said the company has helped fill positions that otherwise might have remained vacant or required coverage by substitutes.
The arrangement drew comparisons during the meeting to traveling nurses, who take temporary assignments rather than permanent positions.
But the staffing arrangements have limitations. When contracted employees are absent, administrators said, replacement workers are not always available.
The agreement with Sunburst is intended to expand the district's recruiting reach beyond the Kanawha Valley and provide access to additional staffing agencies. Officials said the company could also provide a pool of substitutes to cover absences among contracted workers.
Administrators cited a position for a board-certified behavior analyst that the district has repeatedly advertised but has struggled to fill.
The district's goal remains to hire permanent employees, officials emphasized. They said a handful of workers who initially came to the district through Amergis have since accepted full-time positions with Kanawha County Schools.
Board members also questioned how the contracts would affect the district's personnel budget.
Administrators explained that money budgeted for vacant positions can be used to pay contracted workers, rather than adding the entire cost of the contracts to existing personnel expenses.
"So it's not on top of our personnel costs," Potter explained.
The discussion did not include a detailed comparison of the costs of contracted workers and permanent district employees.
Officials also said contracted personnel must undergo screening and training comparable to that required of district employees, including background checks and drug testing.
During consideration of the Amergis agreement, board President Kate White raised questions about liability coverage if a contracted worker were injured or involved in an incident with a student.
District general counsel Lindsey McIntosh said coverage would depend on the contracts and applicable insurance policies. She said she had not reviewed the most recent agreement and could not definitively establish how the district's insurance would apply to contracted workers.
