While Gloucester and Mathews school systems have had their share of challenges in hiring and retaining quality teachers, the situation locally is not nearly as dire as it is in other parts of the state and country.
According to an article in the Washington Post published earlier this month, the teacher shortage has caused some rural school districts in Texas to switch to four-day weeks, while in Florida and Arizona, veterans and college students are being pressed into service in the classroom to fill vacancies.
An Aug. 9 article in Virginia Mercury cited problems faced by school divisions in Spotsylvania, Chesterfield and Henrico counties where superintendents are grappling with filling vacant teaching positions in the hundreds as they get ready for the coming school year.
In Gloucester
As of Tuesday afternoon, Gloucester County Public Schools reported having only eight teaching vacancies that need filling for the 2022-2023 school year.
“Our candidate pool is certainly much smaller,” s...