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largela school districts. As more and more staff retired or left to seek emploIrment elseu,here ,
Ile feared his district was doing an excessive amount of re-teaching to nen,comers.
A senior :idministrative official believed that most staff possessed the skills necessary
to HF 2272. but cited both time and money as resources that had been difficult to
keep up with. She believed that teacher morale had stayed high, but did wish that teachers
co~~ld have been compensated monetarily for more of their efforts.
A member of the school board shared similar concerns, but expanded those to include
oeclloing enrollment in the district as well as the difficulty in attracting and retaining quality
teachers to a small community with limited financial or aesthetic resources. She said, "I
14.orry at>out getting people to come here. Math and science people are especially difficult for
us to attract and then keep. A lot of younger teachers are looking for jobs in a bi,, Doer town
[\.here they can make more money and have things to do after five o'clock." A principal
added. "The hiring process for small schools is very difficult. Our candidate pools can be
\ cr! mall. Our former kupcrintcndent used to sav sometimes you just need a body. Then
!'c)u h~pc thirt through your mentoring program and a lot of administrative support you can
bring pcoplc ;~lonr." He \vent on to describe the difficult situations faced recently in losin?
w'cr;ll tillcntcd. rc\pcctcd educators to re~irement and the issues the district was facing in
cithcr rcpl:~cinc tlicm or in twins to assist their current replacements.
The declining enrollment issue impacted the district in several uvays with the most
oh\.ious king lon.cr funding. Se\*eral ~;micipants worried aloud ahout the impact of losing
the hudgct gi,:lr;lntee in the near future. Others sn\4 [heir lo\v nunlkn as an impediment to
hwinp trllly me:lningfl,I scores to report \vhen one or t\vn needy move-ins or the wmng two
children inoving 011t of a grade le\fel could greatly impact a reponed standardized score.
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