Elementary special education teachers in Henrico 'stretched too thin' by staffing shortage

A county-wide teacher staffing shortage is being felt acutely in the exceptional education classrooms of Henrico’s elementary schools, where some teachers say they aren’t getting the support they need to teach young children with diverse needs.

Several teachers who spoke with the Citizen said that it is a challenge to teach students from different grade levels, who have different needs and levels of ability, in the same classroom – especially if there are not enough instructional assistants.

Currently, there are 18.5 exceptional education teacher vacancies and five instructional assistant vacancies at Henrico elementary schools, according to school system officials. As a result, exceptional education teachers at a number of schools are having to take on extra responsibilities.

As the only Academic Integrated Services teacher at Gayton Elementary, Meghan Hyatt has to teach a class of students with disabilities from all grade levels who cannot always be in standard classroom environments – something she says is not ‘developmentally appropriate.’

“If I have a kindergartner who’s working on numbers and colors, and in the same class I have a fifth grader working on multiplication and division, it’s just a challenge to plan for so many needs and levels of ability within the academic setting,” Hyatt said.

Hyatt often wishes the school had at least one other AIS teacher so that the classes could be divided into K-2 and 3-5.

Another teacher in a similar situation is Samantha Yearout, who teaches students with special needs at Pinchbeck Elementary.

Not only is her class K-5, but because of the needs of the students – and the lack of teaching assistants – she said she has been unable to do much actual teaching for the first two months of the school year.

“I feel like after 10:30, I don’t get to teach,” Yearout said. “There’s not enough adults in the room. Most of my day is diverting attention to students’ needs, and I don’t do much teaching yet.”

Because of the differing needs of her students, many of whom are young and require help in the bathroom, lessons often can’t be completed on time. Yearout has only one teaching assistant, but said that she is supposed to have one more – and really needs at least two more.

Some special education teachers have time for nothing but their students, even foregoing lunch and planning periods because of their packed work days.

* * *

HCPS Director of Exceptional Education Katie Smith told the Citizen that teachers who have concerns can contact her or their principals but that very few teachers have done so.

According to Smith, the school system is working to recruit more teachers and instructional assistants, some of whom will work in exceptional education. Some IAs have been recruited from recent job fairs. HCPS also is paying for college classes for IAs – currently, 10 are enrolled – who want to become licensed teachers in the future. (Overall, there are 48.5 vacancies for exceptional education teachers in Henrico's elementary, middle and high schools, along with 14 instructional assistant vacancies.)

The number of teaching assistants needed in a specific classroom, Smith said, depends upon the individual students. Some students’ IEPs (individualized education plans) require a teaching assistant just for them, while others do not. The class size limit for special education is 10 students, which in an ideal situation would allow a student-teacher ratio of at least 1 to 3.

In addition to the wide range of students Hyatt has to teach within the same classroom, she has little time for lunch and planning. Though she has 30 minutes for lunch, she often still has students in her room while she eats.

“I typically do not feel like I can leave my room for lunch or planning, because the instructional assistant who watches the class is often not familiar with my students,” Hyatt said.

Another AIS teacher at an Eastern Henrico elementary school, who chose to remain anonymous, said that because of the lack of teaching assistants, there's no available lunch or planning time.

“I have worked in a volunteer capacity with kids with disabilities since I was 11 years old,” the teacher said. “It’s all I’ve ever wanted to do.”

Despite often having to go without lunch, or eating while teaching class, and having to complete lesson planning at home off the clock, the job is still something that the teacher loves.

“During the first couple weeks of school, I brought my work computer home around 4, and didn’t finish working until 8 or 9,” said the teacher (whose identity is known to, and was verified by, the Citizen). “It’s very hard to have a social life.”

Though this teacher is not the only AIS teacher at the school, the workload is large, and there are never any assistants available to cover any of the classes. Students with disabilities often require much more paperwork and lesson planning, all of which this teacher must do outside of school.

Yearout's daily schedule and workload are similar.

“I have zero time during the day,” Yearout said. “From the time students arrive, I’m on the go.”

She usually doesn’t get to eat lunch until the school day is over, she said. Unless a student is absent, which lightens her workload, she has no time even for a snack.

Yearout has three children of her own, and in the evenings said she feels like she has to choose between spending time with them or doing work for her students, since she gets no planning time at school. It’s often a hard decision to make.

“I love my students as if they were my own,” Yearout said.

* * *

Though the number of special education teachers at various HCPS elementary schools vary widely, there are usually anywhere from four to 11 total teachers and instructional assistants.

Students with disabilities at a single elementary school often number in the range of 40 to 70.

Not every student with a disability is in special education, and students who are in special education aren’t in that classroom all the time. However, since classes for students with special needs are generally smaller, the teacher shortage is still noticeable at many schools.

In a few elementary schools, the need is even more pronounced.

Dumbarton Elementary, for example, has only two teachers and two instructional assistants for its 44 disabled students. Trevvett Elementary School has three teachers and only one instructional assistant for 40 disabled students.

Despite its challenges, Hyatt said she loves her job.

“I love finding ways of accessing their knowledge, and seeing those small victories – like the little tiny, minute steps they make towards a goal,” she said.

She emphasized that despite teachers’ difficulties, there is no reason for parents to worry about the quality of their students’ education.

“We do the absolute best we can,” Hyatt said. “Our students are not suffering. It’s the teachers who are suffering. Every AIS teacher I know bends over backwards for their kids, but they’re stretched too thin.”

Yearout was inspired to teach special needs students after growing up with a disabled sister who went to a separate school. She says she is glad that these students now get to go to a standard public school and interact with their peers.

“I love to take what society and doctors say they can’t do, and help them do it,” Yearout said.

Smith is hopeful that the vacancies, especially among instructional assistants, will be filled soon.

“We’ve been having a lot of conversations about what it means to be a teacher,” Smith said. “We had been talking about student satisfaction, but we are now trying to talk about adult satisfaction and adult culture.”

Hyatt already has had a meeting with the assistant director of exceptional education, which left her feeling optimistic.

“I made suggestions, and they seemed to be open to them,” Hyatt said.

* * *

Anya Sczerzenie is the Henrico Citizen’s education reporter and a Report for America corps member. Make a tax-deductible donation to support her work, and RFA will match it dollar for dollar. Sign up here for her free weekly education newsletter.