(Editorial - Graphic Illustration - MetroCreativeConnection)

Wood County Schools is facing a problem familiar to many employers in our region: too much work to get done, not enough people willing (or qualified) to do the jobs.

But the effort to fill those staffing shortages continues with events such as this week’s job fair held at the Caperton Center for Applied Technology on the campus of West Virginia University at Parkersburg.

There are open positions for teachers, substitutes, counselors, custodians, bus drivers, other transportation jobs and more. Remember, our schools are asked to do so much more than just educate children; and it truly takes a village’s worth of employees to handle the load.

“… Depending on the needs of the district, sometimes the positions will change but we definitely do need substitute service employees right now,” said Teacher Certification and Licensure Administrator Stephanie Cunningham.

Because this job fair at its new location attracted significantly fewer in-person attendees than in years past, it’s tempting to start harping about people just not being willing to work, or whatever other old tropes the social media trolls like to pull out.

But the reality is more complex than that.

“A lot of people have become more comfortable with just going online and filling out the application without help,” Cunningham said, as she noted the in-person events are the best bet for those looking for a “one-stop-shop” for materials, testing, applications and resources.

And not just anyone can fill most of the positions that are open. For transportation positions, for example, Chad Bloss, director of transportation, said “Some people, after talking to them, don’t meet the criteria if they hadn’t had an operator’s license long enough to apply to get a CDL.”

So there’s a training and licensing issue at play here, too, in the standards to which we rightly hold those who will be working with our children.

If you know someone, then, who may have just missed the opportunity presented by the job fair, who is hard-working, dedicated, qualified and interested in being part of providing a high-quality educational experience to our kids, let them know they are needed.

(They can find out more here: www.woodcountyschoolswv.com/page/careers.)