MISSOULA — Missoula County Public Schools (MCPS) will begin working towards their next phase which would bring students back to in-person instruction, five days a week starting on Nov. 9.
But MCPS Superintendent Rob Watson says a shortage of staff has the district scrambling as they prepare for Phase 2.
During a Tuesday evening school board meeting, Watson addressed the public, saying they’re in dire need of substitutes, custodians, support personnel, and more.
Watson said it’s not unheard of to begin the school year with a staffing shortage, but their online academy now serves almost 2,000 students, and they’ve had to move a lot of their staff online to accommodate all of those students.
He said they’re stretching their already limited staff very thin -- and he’s not the only one worried about this.
"What I heard again and again from the K-five principals, and the staff from K-five is just their concern about having some of these staff positions that are unfilled and being able to manage the protocols with more students in the building and not quite enough staff," Watson said "So, we are going to have to work really hard over the next few weeks to get those staff positions filled."
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