Superintendent’s Message

Teacher Retention in Anderson School District Two

Much ado has been made over teacher retention across the state, the county and even our district. So, are teachers leaving our schools and if so, why? 

For the past five years, we have averaged 9.8% teacher turnover. How does this compare to other Anderson County districts

●Anderson 1 -  7.9%

●Anderson 2  - 9.8%

●Anderson 3 - 11.1%

●Anderson 4 - 13.5%

●Anderson 5 - 10.5%

Compared to the other four districts, we have managed to do a pretty good job in retaining teachers.

Let’s dig a little deeper into the 9.8% who have left.

33% of these are veteran teachers who have retired. Our district maintained a practice that if you entered the TERI (Teacher & Employee Retention Incentive) early retirement incentive program, you were required to vacate your position after five years. Now that TERI is no longer in effect, we expect the number retiring over the next several years to drop to one to three per year.

●25% have assumed positions closer to their home, which save them time and travel expenses.

●4% have chosen to become stay-at-home moms.

●3% have left for a promotion.

●8% have left education completely.

●10% included health issues, family reasons, or mutual separations

17%, which is our focus, have left to work in other local school districts. Some of these simply returned to the district they came from. Others pursued opportunities to work in a new capacity. Some were drawn to the anticipation of working at a different school. We do realize there are occasions where some teachers just are not happy at their current school and a change of jobs provides them a chance to experience a new venture. We have also had a couple of teachers leave for other districts but returned to our district.

Over the last six years, we have had a total of 15 teachers (an average of just over two per year), leave due to some type of frustration with their position or a personal disagreement at their school.

How many veteran teachers, those with at least 10 years experience have left the district during the same time span? We have averaged less than four teachers per year.

What is our goal for retention in Anderson Two? Obviously, 100% retention is perfect but I’m not sure if there are any businesses that can attain a perfect score in this area much less school districts. While we would love for all our teachers to find their niche at Anderson School District Two, we know that is not always possible. Teaching is tough and teachers need to feel fulfilled in their role to be effective in the classroom.

Even better news, for the 2019 school year we expect our turnover to drop to 7.2%. This is a significantly lower number. But more importantly, we are extremely excited about the new hires that are coming to serve our students in Anderson Two and the energy and joy they will bring to the classroom.

Dr. Richard Rosenberger

Mission & Vision