Upper Cumberland school districts working to retain teachers, hopeful of bucking the national trend of teachers leaving the profession.
White County Director of Schools Kurt Dronebarger said the district maintains well above a 90 percent teacher retention rate through fostering an atmosphere of cohesion.
“We try and support one another,” Dronebarger said. “We don’t differentiate between grade levels and subject matter when it comes to bonuses and things like that. We just kind of, as I said, we win and lose as a team. We stick together, and so I think that kind of collegial atmosphere permeates our whole district, and that’s why people want to be here and why people stay.”
Overton County Director of Schools Kim Dillon said the district utilizes 100 percent coverage of single insurance premiums to attract and keep educators.
Teacher retention nationally has decreased nearly 30 percent since the 1990s.
With only one designated middle school in the county, Dillon said the district primarily sees turnover in special ed and secondary math and English positions rather than middle school grades.
“Mostly it’s people who need specific certifications that we tend to have a harder time filling those positions than we do just the elementary-middle school,” Dillon said.
Dronebarger said the district has utilized TISA funding to remain competitive with salaries across the Upper Cumberland region. Dronebarger said these pay increases were applied to veteran teachers with over 20 years of experience rather than focusing solely on starting pay. A former middle school teacher himself, Dronebarger said he acknowledges it takes a special type of person to teach at that level.
“I just think this is a calling and you’re not going to get rich in education, certainly not in public education,” Dronebarger said. “We just try and make this a great atmosphere to work in, a great atmosphere to go to school as a student, and certainly a great atmosphere to work in as an employee. And I think that team atmosphere is really what’s served us well here in White County.”
Dillon said many teachers in the county are local residents who grew up in the system, which helps stabilize the workforce, along with competitive wage scales.
“Just making it a place where they want to be,” Dillon said. “I mean, a lot of them are from here, so they want to stay in this area. Typically, that’s who you’re going to get. If you’re going to get an Overton County teacher, you’re going to get someone who grew up here, went to school here, is from here, and then it’s easier and more manageable to be able to retain those teachers.”
Dillon said having consistent teachers year after year is critical to the success of a school system.
“It’s small, so everybody kind of knows everybody,” Dillon said. “I think it is important to retain teachers and to continue on with growing teachers because if you just continue to have turnover, it’s hard to grow each person and teacher into the type of teacher that you want them to be.”
For White County, Dronebarger said the district will continue recruiting efforts through Tennessee Tech and social media to ensure all vacancies are filled with qualified candidates.
