YUHSD sees continued improvement in retention rate among certified staff
YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - At a time when filling school-staff vacancies is as difficult as ever for districts across the country.
Yuma Union High School District (YUHSD) has continued to see rising retention rates among all of its certified staff members.
During the start of the 2023-24 school year, YUHSD reported a certified staff retention rate of almost 85 percent.
“Filling vacancies is always a challenge, but our district takes a lot of pride and makes it a priority to bring back as many staff members year after year," said YUHSD Associate Superintendent Derek Bosch.
Out of 539 certified staff positions including teachers, counselors, dropout prevention specialists, instructional coaches, instructional leaders, and directors, YUHSD had 457 of them return for the current school year after working in the district in 2022-23.
Monique Manifold, an English teacher at Cibola High School is a prime example of a teacher with a great retention rate returning to her classroom this year for her third decade.
“I did my student teaching here 31 years ago and was hired and I haven’t left since so this is my 30th year of teaching and it’s been a wonderful experience so much so, that I haven’t left and I wanted to stay here my whole career,” said Manifold.
Mrs. Manifold said since Red for Ed in 2018-19, teachers have had more competitive compensation and benefits.
“We’re not having teachers having to decide, I really want to stay here, but they pay more some place else,” said Manifold.
“We’ve seen an increase in salaries going back five, six years we’ve seen a 38 percent increase in salaries since 2017-18 school year,” said Bosch.
Associate Superintendent Bosch said another reason for high teacher retention is collaboration.
“The support that teachers provide for each other with the tools that they share, the resources they share, that creates some comfort and helps them learn their jobs better,” said Bosch.
Mrs.Manifold said teachers feel valued and appreciated, it goes a long way to building community and support.
“The fact that I love teaching students. I love to see their faces when they realize something new, when they have an aha moment where they’ve never thought of that before,” said Manifold.
