SURING, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – The Suring School District is scrambling to keep its music program alive.
The district’s choral teacher retired in June and since then, it’s been in search of her replacement.
Many of the students, like high school junior Maddy Johnson, have been a part of the school’s music program since they were elementary school students.
“I think I really fell in love with music when I got to know people in it and just had fun with it.”
Even with a wall full of awards and plenty of talented students, Suring is having trouble filling its music teacher position.
“I feel like there’s not much else we can possibly do,” said Pam Berg, school principal.
Berg tells FOX 11, despite a job post on Wisconsin Education Career Access Network, WECAN for short, and even a plea on Facebook, no luck.
“We also reached out to all of the area universities. We applied to DPI to see if maybe we could get an intern to come in and work in cooperation with our choir director.”
Still, no luck.
“We have not heard back from a single certified teacher… somebody that DPI would consider as qualified.”
For the past few months, Carla Bushmaker is temporarily filling the open position.
“With the high school students, I really enjoy listening to what they’ve learned in the past. They’ve mastered many, many in-depth skills, knowledge of music. They’re able to perform, they’ve mastered four-part harmony.”
A 2016 Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) report listed music as one of 17 disciplines facing chronic staffing shortages.
The report also says, “substantial numbers of veteran staff have retired or left the profession, and experienced educators in high-demand fields are increasingly difficult to retain.”
Berg says she’s determined to make sure Suring’s music program continues.
“We have the teacher that we have, until, I believe the date is Nov. 3, Nov. 2, something like that and as we creep up on Halloween, if I don’t have something in place, then I’m going to have to start getting creative.”
A quick check on WECAN breaks down school districts in 12 areas. In our area, there are 11 open music teacher positions. Some of those districts, include Green Bay, Freedom, and Oshkosh.
