Students across Oregon are preparing to return to classrooms for another new school year, one without the mask requirements, contact tracing or quarantine policies of the past two and a half years.

The school year for students in both Portland Public Schools and Southwest Washington begins on Aug. 30. Portland school officials shared an update on staffing and enrollment ahead of the new year during a board meeting Tuesday.

“To our students, families and staff, we’re anxious to see you, we’re excited to have you back here at PPS,” said Superintendent Guadalupe Guerrero.

Despite continued declining enrollment, PPS reports 44,255 registered students for the fall as of Aug. 16. That’s a decline of about 750 students from 2021-2022, and fewer students than projected, though officials say numbers will likely change. The number of registered students at elementary and middle schools is larger than earlier projected. Kindergarten student enrollment remains lower than projected, but district officials say “500 or so” kindergarten students will likely enroll in the weeks before school starts.

Vancouver Public Schools is preparing to welcome 21,000 students into its schools.

Along with staffing and enrollment, district officials are sharing information about COVID-19 protocols for the year.

Vancouver school officials say masks may be recommended “during outbreaks” but otherwise remain optional. Vancouver will also continue to update a dashboard of cases in the district.

In Portland, testing for symptomatic students and staff will continue to be available.

The Oregonian/OregonLive has previously reported that classroom air quality doesn’t meet standards for ventilation, a continued issue of concern for Portland school staff and families. District officials said ventilation in its schools “meet all regulatory standards for air quality.”

PPS asks that staff and students self-screen for COVID-19 symptoms and stay home if they are sick.

Schools still seeking staff, substitute teachers

As schools use state funds to staff permanent positions, substitute staffing is again a challenge school districts are planning for.

In Oregon, the Teacher Standards and Practice Commission has extended the availability of the emergency substitute license, citing the continued need to staff schools across Oregon.

“Although the pandemic may be abating, the Commission believes the districts still need this tool for the coming hiring period,” according to the order extending the license. “Without additional teachers, classes will be combined to unacceptable levels or not offered at all, inflicting irreparable harm on schoolchildren.”

State funding has also been made available to school districts through House Bill 4030 to provide incentives to deal with staffing challenges.

In PPS, the school board approved an incentive to fill substitute teaching positions specifically in 25 schools with low substitute assignment fill rates. The 25 schools are mostly elementary and middle schools east of the Willamette River. Jefferson and Roosevelt, both in North Portland, are the two high schools listed.

District officials reported a difference between substitute fill rates before the pandemic and last year. In the 2018-2019 school year, there was a 94% fill rate for substitute teachers. Last school year, the fill rate was 77.8% districtwide, but 17 schools had a fill rate below 70%. The schools with lower fill rates included 13 Title 1 schools, with large proportions of students from low-income households.

“School starts in a week, and we want to make sure that we have a plan in place and that we’re able to communicate to the substitute pool, we really do want them to consider accepting those jobs when they become available,” Guerrero said.

Subs who accept assignments at the 25 schools on the district’s list will receive a $50 bonus for a full-day assignment and $35 for a half-day assignment on top of the regular rate of $233 for a full day or $116.51 for a half day. The rate for subs who work more than 10 days on an assignment is higher.

Angela Bonilla, president of the Portland Association of Teachers, expressed support for the new incentives but stressed the need to better train educators to serve students of color and children with high needs.

“We are very supportive of this initiative because we want to make sure that we have those folks in the building, especially buildings that need them,” she said.

District officials also listed other efforts to build its substitute teacher roster, including professional development opportunities and targeted recruitment.

Other districts have incentives for substitute teachers, as well.

Lake Oswego recently approved an increase in its daily pay for substitute teachers, a sign of continuing substitute shortages and competition between school districts.

“Substitutes this year, again, will be a big, big concern for us and other districts and so we need to be as competitive as possible,” said Donna Watson, the district’s executive director for Human Resources, during a Lake Oswego board meeting on Aug. 15.