In the past, Muenter said districts might have relied on people who had retired from teaching or those who weren't able to find a job. She said that situation has reversed during the last couple of years, especially due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"A lot of (teachers) retired because they didn't want to deal with COVID or were concerned about it because they're in a higher risk category due to their age or health conditions," said Muenter. "And then, simply, they just are done and don't necessarily want to continue teaching."
Muenter said every business is facing staffing challenges and public schools are unable to offer salaries for teachers or substitutes that can compete with some private sector offerings. In 35 years of working in human resources, she said, "I've never seen an environment like this. I think it's unprecedented."
Burnett County. (11/27/2021)
11/15/2021 update starts here
It's getting worse in Washburn County. Much worse.
The red flag is replaced with a cool blue background at the Sawyer County Public Health website.
Original 11/9/2021 starts here.
Number of new cases is up 90% from three weeks ago.