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Pittsburgh Public Schools officials may need to cut more than 1,000 students enrolled in its summer learning program to adjust for staffing shortages.
The district announced June 16 the kick-off of its Summer B.O.O.S.T. program, which was set to begin on June 22, would be postponed a week due to staffing shortages and will now begin on June 28. The program will finish on Aug. 4, which didn’t change, and is anticipated to serve students four days each week when it begins.
“After several attempts to recruit staff and adjust the program model, we are forced to take steps to reduce the number of students we will be able to serve as part of our Summer BOOST program,” Superintendent Anthony Hamlet said in a release.
The district currently has 120 staffers for the program and needs an additional 127 to serve the originally planned 2,500 students this summer.
Students will be prioritized by need as reductions are made, the district said. Families will know their camp status by June 18. Summer B.O.O.S.T. offers programming for students in kindergarten through 11th grade.
District spokesperson Ebony Pugh said the district is shifting staff roles in some cases to cover shortages and considering different ways to incentivize staff. Pugh said the district is still receiving applications for new staff members, as recent as Wednesday, but that it takes about three weeks for an outside applicant to be onboarded and ready to staff the program.
Summer programs across Allegheny County and the country have experienced similar summer program staffing shortages, following a year that left many educators exhausted or burnt out.
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