The first day of school for Dolores students is fast approaching. And much to the dismay of many, Aug. 18 will be here before they know it.
And while students will be getting used to new backpacks and new clothes, students will also walk into Dolores schools and see quite a few new faces.
In all, the Dolores School District hired 11 teachers and one school nurse.
Dolores School District Superintendent Scott Cooper said he is excited to see the new staff.
"They are very energetic and enthusiastic. I just hope they stay," he said.
Cooper said this year that about 20 percent of the teaching staff is new, but that turnover is a problem at schools across the nation.
As a state, Cooper said, Colorado has underfunded schools, placing the state in the bottom five for school funding. Cooper said that he lost three teachers recently to Wyoming, a state that pays teachers between $15,000 and $20,000 more a year.
"I don't think it is just this year. Over the past three years, it has been hard for teachers to stay in the game of teaching and for new teachers to come into the profession. It is very low pay for a professional with a bachelor's or sometimes a master's degree," Cooper said.
The Dolores School District pays a starting teacher $30,550 a year.
"It's a lot of stress and a lot of demands and a lot of clerical work now for teachers. They wind up pushing paper late at night instead of creating that next great lesson. And more demands are being put on them that are unfunded demands," Cooper said.
In addition to the new faces, students will have to get used to having the occasional Fridays off. This year, the district did away with the early-release Wednesdays, and teachers will have professional development time and work together on Fridays.
In total, it will be about a dozen Fridays where students will stay home, and the teaching staff will go to school for four hours of professional learning.
"We get to work intensively with these teachers without any distractions," Cooper said.
Visit www.doloresschools.org for a school calendar.
