East Hampton High School and Middle School will return to their usual hybrid learning plan starting Monday, but the John M. Marshall Elementary School will continue with remote learning through at least Friday, Jan. 29.
The cause is staffing shortages at the elementary level, Richard Burns, the district superintendent, wrote in a letter to families on Friday. He also said there has still been no evidence of school-related spread of Covid-19
"Parents and guardians, please help us by following all safety procedures and guidelines while our children are at home, and especially please limit social gatherings during these difficult times," Mr. Burns urged. "Hopefully the spread of Covid-19 in our community has reached its peak and the positive Covid cases in our community will begin to level off. This will help with our ability to bring more students back into school for in-person learning."
The shortage of teachers available for in-person classes has been an acute issue not just in East Hampton, but across the East End, Long Island, and the nation. The New York Times wrote on Jan. 19 that "as spikes in virus infections and exposures have forced more educators to stay home, the teacher shortage — exacerbated by limited access to Covid-19 testing and contact tracing — is among the main reasons that schools and even entire districts have had to shut down in-person instruction, often for weeks on end."
On the school district job search website OLASjobs.org, there are at least 120 entries for school districts seeking permanent and per-diem substitute teachers, assistants, nurses, and other positions on Long Island. Among them are Eastern Suffolk BOCES, the Shelter Island School District, and the Tuckahoe School District. The Bridgehampton, Sag Harbor, Springs, and Amagansett School Districts are all advertising substitute openings on their own websites.
The East Hampton School District said Tuesday it is still seeking one more permanent substitute, and also took immediate steps to ease the problem by hiring two more permanent substitute teachers and multiple former East Hampton High School students to serve as per-diem substitute teachers.
Already, the teachers, teaching assistants, and aides had been helping each other out by filling in for each other last minute or taking on extra classes.
"Kudos to the staff. . . . We're down sometimes 15 staff members in a building," Mr. Burns said on Tuesday. "It's really hard. Thank you to the teaching staff, the paraprofessionals, and teaching assistants, who kick in and make things work."