A growing handful of teenage students are being employed by their own high schools as districts across the United States struggle to fill clerical, cafeteria, and landscaping jobs traditionally held by adults in their communities.
While many schools in the country have started taking unusual measures to address an acute teacher shortage intensified by the COVID pandemic, hiring difficulties are hitting staffing needs of education systems in other areas.
According to June data from the Institute of Educational Sciences, about a third of schools reported a vacancy in custodial staff for the incoming school year. About 19 percent of schools reported vacancies in their kitchen staff, and 29 percent said they had not filled all their transportation positions.
Teen students have become labor lifeline
Students have become a labor lifeline for some districts. According to proponents of the move, this can open valuable opportunities for students that a job flipping burgers after class might not provide.
Administrators who are piloting these programs said they have heard from other short-staffed districts looking to replicate the program. However, not all are fans of the programs, as some education advocates fear this type of approach threatens to undermine the mission of schools and might not serve the career development needs of students.
According to Misha Lawyer, a district food-service coordinator, about a third of the kitchen staff did not return to work for the 2021 school year at Kershaw County School District in South Carolina. She added that many workers left their jobs because they needed to be home with their children for virtual learning or feared contracting the coronavirus.
Read Also: Dad of Woman Who Drowned While Livestreaming on Facebook Cried While Watching Video of Her Death
Districts open non-teaching jobs to students
To address the administrators' hiring difficulties, the district decided to open its non-teaching positions to students, who could apply like any adult applicant. Administrators initially hired four students to work in the kitchens of schools at a starting wage of $12.24. That is the same rate offered to adults with no previous experience, according to Lawyer.
The teen workers help prepare fruit and chop vegetables and assemble meals for lunch. One student who took advantage of this program is Saniyya Boykin. The 17-year-old senior at Camden High School in Camden, South Carolina, cleans kitchen floors or preps food for the next day's school lunch for $12.50 an hour, according to NBC News.
Students like Boykin are eligible to either leave school early or start the school day late because they have already met their requirements to graduate. Some students opt to take classes at the local community college, while others take on jobs.
Lawyer made it clear that these students are not taking jobs away from adults that need the job. She said that even if she was fully staffed, with no openings, she would always find room for these children because they are getting more out of this than just a paycheck.
