A total of 5,200 St. Johns County staffers — including 1,604 classroom teachers — have quit in just the last five years, according to a report.
New superintendent Brendan Asplen discussed the exodus in an interview with First Coast News, telling the outlet that meager pay is fueling many of the departures.
The former Sarasota schools chief is taking the reins of one of Florida’s most heralded districts — but a host of challenges loom.
Asplen said 4,200 of the district exits were newer employees with less than five years on the job.
“What is it over those zero to five years that is causing people to say: “I can’t do this anymore,” he said.
With cost of living spiking across the rapidly growing county, many teachers assert that their salaries make it impossible to subsist in the area.
“I get it,” Asplen said, offering an anecdote about a Bartram Trail High School calculus teacher who abandoned the whiteboard despite a stellar work history and legions of thankful students over the years.
“He always had a 100% pass rate in AP calculus,” he said. “He’s cutting trees — and making twice as much money.”
Asplen noted that a voter referendum last year will entitle teachers to supplements worth up to $8,500 depending on experience — and that he expects similar initiatives in the future.
St. Johns County’s teachers union head Katie Dowdie said in a recent interview that teachers are finding that their workloads are increasing at a far higher rate than their paychecks.
She said many are ditching the professions for a host of other gigs — from charcuterie boards to selling real estate.
Dowdie suggested bolstering a mentorship program that would ease some of the burden newer teachers experience in their initial years on the job.
There are currently 3,610 instructional staffers in the district, along with 2,798 support staff, 163 school-based administrators and 91 district administrators.
