MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The Monongalia County School System has approved the hiring of more teaching aides to account for increased Pre-K enrollment and the hiring of more county school bus drivers.

The Monongalia County Board of Education (BOE) unanimously approved the hiring of a new Pre-K Special Education teacher and teaching assistant at Skyview Elementary School and the hiring of two full-time bus drivers, which will take effect on October 14. Monongalia County School Superintendent Eddie Campbell reported that the hires will help solidify a labor situation that was considered decent heading into the 2024-25 school year with others set up to accommodate what could be an increased enrollment in Pre-K classes system wide.

“We’re constantly looking for instructional aides, it’s one of our biggest needs right now,” said Campbell. “Service personnel in general are a big need, but as far as professional staff, we’re in pretty good shape at this point,” he said.

The new Pre-K Special Education teacher and teaching assistant hires for Skyview Elementary School were approved unanimously by the board based on a recommendation from Campbell. This was advised to be passed by the BOE after a third Pre-K classroom had to be opened within county elementary schools to account for the increase in enrollments for the 2024-25 school year. While no other hires were approved for North Elementary, Mountainview Elementary, or Suncrest Elementary, the Monongalia County School System is preparing to pivot in the event enrollment numbers show increases that are larger than expected.

“Enrollment is ongoing, and we’ve seen a real uptick in the first couple months of school,” said Campbell. “I believe this is the third Pre-K classroom that we’ve opened since school started, so my hope is that this is the last one we need, at least for the next few months,” he said.

As of October 8, Campbell projected that the updated enrollment numbers for Pre-K are not expected to be significantly different from the 2023-24 school year, which saw over 700 students enrolled in that grade across the Monongalia County School System. Campbell also added that the most recent deadline for Pre-K enrollment passed on October 1st, which is expected to offer more clarity on the number of students enrolled when the numbers are released before the beginning of November. Despite expectations that Pre-K enrollment numbers will remain mostly stagnant, the county school system is ready to adjust with the support of the BOE.

“We’re still working out our enrollment numbers, the deadline is October 1st, so we’ll have some solid numbers here in the next week or so,” said Campbell.

Campbell also added that the two bus driver hires approved by the BOE on Tuesday help solidify a labor situation that was in dire straits during the 2023-24 school year. In comparison to last year, where Monongalia County School Transportation Director Tony Harris had to take over routes due to labor shortages, Campbell stated that despite the need for substitute drivers, all routes are being covered by full-time drivers. While other positions are addressed across the school system and recruitment efforts for staffing continue, Campbell feels that Monongalia County School System is doing the best they can to serve the students in the county.

“We’re doing okay right now, the biggest issue we have right now is our subs list,” said Campbell in regards to bus driver labor for the school system. “It’s not big, but we’ve gotten by at this point, we’re not in great shape, but we’re scraping by,” he said.

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