Given a state-wide shortage of special-education teachers, the Vashon school district and teachers’ union have authorized an incentive program, in which the district can offer financial assistance to current teachers who wish to earn endorsements.

The agreement encourages current Vashon Island School District (VISD) teachers to pursue certifications for “high-need” positions. On Vashon, those are mostly special education and sometimes STEM positions, according to VISD Superintendent Michael Soltman.

“In general, the positions that are really hard to fill are special-ed,” Soltman said. “It’s a terrifically demanding job. From the range of disabilities the teachers have to deal with, to creating individualized lesson plans for each student and supporting the parents, who require a higher degree of involvement than in regular education, the workload is immense.”

VISD currently has six special-education teachers and 16 paraeducators serving its 172 special-education students. But Soltman said those students have needs that range from speech therapy and reading assistance to more serious developmental disabilities and health issues.

Beginning this year, any teacher willing and otherwise qualified to receive an endorsement defined by Soltman as “high-need” will receive up to $5,000 per year from the district to go toward the courses needed for certification. In return, the teacher will agree to work for the district for at least three years. If their employment ends before then, the teacher will owe the district a prorated amount — for example, two-thirds of the total amount if they resign after one year.

“To work that hard (as a special-ed teacher), go to school and then be stretched financially thin, that’s a lot to ask. We can take care of the tuition,” Soltman said.

The incentive program comes at a time when the special-education shortage is being felt at VISD. Two of the district’s four newly hired special-education teachers — Chautauqua Elementary School’s Tina Parrish and Vashon High School’s Laura Weston, who is the school’s third special education teacher in as many years — have been issued waivers from the state allowing them to teach as they finish the work needed for their special-education endorsements. The so-called pre-endorsement waivers from the state’s Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) are meant for certified special-education teachers who have completed at least 24 of the 45 credits needed for a state special-education endorsement. The remaining credits must be completed within five years of the waiver’s issuing. VISD’s Human Resource Director Amy Sassera said both educators are currently working toward the endorsements.

The two waivers issued to VISD are only a small piece of what Sassera said has become an “extraordinarily common” practice state-wide. According to OSPI, there are currently 159 teachers holding valid pre-endorsement waivers for special education. Thirty-three of those were issued just this year.

To combat the problem, earlier this summer, state lawmakers passed a law simplifying the process for paraeducators — teacher’s assistants who provide large amounts of instruction to special-needs children throughout the state — to become certified teachers.