As the 2024-25 school year was just beginning, both the East Hampton and Sag Harbor School Districts found themselves facing a challenge: the sudden resignation of a secondary school teacher. Who’s going to teach that class?
The answer came in the form of other teachers already on staff, who stepped up when asked by administrators to take on extra classes. In return, they receive extra pay for the duration of time assigned to the class, all in accordance with teachers’ union contracts that generally cap a teacher’s schedule at five classes per day.
It’s often a more efficient and less expensive way to fill a position, administrators say, since hiring a teacher after school starts is extremely difficult. It’s also a way, they say, to meet students’ scheduling needs that come up late in the summer or during the first few days of classes.
In East Hampton’s case, it was a science teacher who resigned late in August. Four other teachers are now covering those classes, receiving a pay raise proportional to their current salaries — ranging, in this case, from $18,966 to $32,107. The school board approved the stipends on Tuesday.
“Because there were few candidates so late in the school hiring season, it seemed like a better option to use internal staff,” Timothy Fromm, East Hampton’s assistant superintendent, said in an email this week. “We also were able to juggle some [classes] so we did not have to fill all of the teaching sections.”
He said East Hampton does advertise job openings for long-term classroom needs.
“As candidates emerge and the needs are clear, we weigh as many options/factors as possible,” he said. Faculty members are also asked about “their willingness to assume a new class before it is official, as some staff do not want to do so for various reasons. Basically, it’s not ideal, but it can work from time to time.”
In Sag Harbor, at least 16 different Pierson Middle and High School teachers took on extra class assignments, all approved by the school board on Monday night. Many of these were also the result of changing student schedules.
“It’s very difficult to hire a part-time teacher, given the commute and the housing and everything else out here,” Jeff Nichols, Sag Harbor’s superintendent, said. “What we find is it’s an easier solution to pay teachers” a little more to cover those classes.
Pierson’s needs were largely in math, ranging from middle school math to Regents algebra to International Baccalaureate and Advanced Placement calculus classes, the latter some of the hardest classes offered in the Pierson High School curriculum. Extra classes also arose in reading, French, English as a new language, chemistry, and special education. All the teachers filling in New York State were certified in those subjects, Mr. Nichols said.
Stipends at Pierson range from $2,805 for a few weeks of one math class section, to $16,484 for an earth science class and lab, all the way up to $33,877 for multiple French classes.
Mr. Nichols noted that some of the extra math assignments are only temporary, as the district hired a full-time math teacher who is to start on Oct. 7.
“I would say that it’s not optimal, but it’s a challenge that we’ve always had in a small school,” he said. “Someone might argue it takes away from their ability to effectively teach the five other sections they have. I’m not sure that’s a valid argument. . . . We try to keep it relatively minimal.”