MARSHALL — While there are a lot of new faces at Marshall Public Schools this year, the school district hasn’t been spared a struggle to fill staff positions. At this week’s school board meeting, Superintendent Jeremy Williams said MPS is facing the same hiring difficulties as other districts.

Williams gave school board members an update on district staffing during Monday’s meeting. This year, MPS has filled all its certified teaching positions, but it still needs help filling a variety of non-certified positions, he said. It’s not a new problem, either.

“Like the last couple of years, we’ve struggled with filling some of those non-certified spots,” Williams said. “We know there’s a fair amount of competition amongst different districts and other employers in town, and we’re considering to look for different ways to finish our staffing.”

Williams said MPS currently has five open positions for paraprofessionals. They also needed a part-time bus rider, and substitutes in several different areas. Williams listed off the need for substitutes in the custodial department, administrative support, paraprofessionals, crossing guards, classroom assistants and teachers.

“I just wanted to put that plug out there,” Williams said. “If you are aware of things, or people just ask what the schools need, that’s something we need right now. Subs is a big thing, that’s an ongoing need and there’s lots of different areas where we need help.”

Williams said he wanted to encourage people interested in being a substitute to contact the MPS district office. Different types of substitutes have different requirements and qualifications, and the district would be able to provide more information to interested people.

Schools across Minnesota have been feeling the impact of a shortage of teachers and substitute teachers, according to a 2023 report from the Minnesota Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board. The report found that 84% of school districts reported being “somewhat significantly” or “very significantly” impacted by a teacher shortage. The percentage of districts affected by a substitute teacher shortage was 89%, the report said.

Although there were still paraprofessionals and substitutes needed, MPS hired a total of 21 new licensed staff members and 29 new non-certified staff this fall. The new teachers were spread out across all district schools, said MPS director of teaching and learning Beth Ritter. In addition, there were a total of 26 staff that changed to new positions within the school district.