‘Difficulty Finding the People’

RUSSELL, Pa. – Creativity alone seemingly won’t be enough to solve some of the staffing issues facing the Warren County School District.

Superintendent Amy Stewart told the WCSD Board of Directors during its regular meeting Monday that despite constant calls for staff the district is “having difficulty finding the people.”

In response to a question about the possibility of using ARP ESSER dollars to fund positions, Stewart said it wasn’t finding the money that was the issue as much as finding people willing to fill the positions.

“The grant dollars being eligible or not the problem,” Stewart said. “It’s finding bodies that want to do the work that is the problem. Honestly, we’re not limited by creativity, we’re not limited by dollars, we’re just limited by human bodies right now.”

COVID UPDATES
Stewart also updated the board on the current COVID-19 cases and quarantine numbers.

The district has 40 cases and 243 students denied entry due to COVID. The reporting procedure is also undergoing a change.

“We are having a new process that we were informed of before reporting numbers,” Stewart said. “There’ll be new cases as of X-date to Y-date, and then they have to be reported by school into the portal, in lieu of reporting them individually to the Department of Health.”