FLAGLER COUNTY, Fla. — As many get ready to start a new school year, some parents are concerned about what awaits their children in the classroom.

According to Flagler County Schools, the district currently has 13 instructional vacancies, meaning some students will begin without a regular teacher.

One parent is voicing her worries, as she said she believes her child’s education was affected by this issue last year.

Kathy Barnett is a very involved parent and reviews the state's standards.

“There’s like 15 pages of standards that are supposed to be taught in ninth-grade ELA (English language arts) classes,” Barnett said.

She’s preparing for her son to start 10th grade at Matanzas High School.

“He is really excited about playing football, keeping his grades up, making sure that he is doing everything he can to stay on the football team,” she said.

However, she is worried about her son’s education, given the experience he had in English last year. She explained he did not have a teacher for most of the year, and he learned from an online curriculum program called Ingenuity.

“... We definitely saw a dip in his learning in regards to last year and this year,” Barnett said.

Barnett said she feels like her son was not fully taught the standards he was tested on in ninth grade.

“It’s really hard for a student to be excited and learn something when there is no interaction,” Barnett said. “Can you imagine a learning loss after not having a teacher for an entire year?”

She also faced hurdles with her son's education in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I think that if the district can offer parents and families as many options as they can to feel comfortable to go back to school, I think it is a great idea,” said Barnett, back in 2021.

She equates her son learning the standards without an English teacher to the challenges he faced then.

“My understanding, it was either like a coach or somebody, like the students weren’t able to ask him questions with regard to what they were learning online so it was basically like when we had COVID and you were on Zoom, but at least I guess there was a teacher you could talk to,” Barnett said.

She said she reached out to the district with her concerns.

“I got the generic response of, ‘You know, we are hiring, we are aware of it’ and I know that is what they are trying to do and I have no doubt that they definitely want to put teachers in the classroom, but we need another alternative or a backup plan for those kids,” she said.

According to the Flagler School District, they have held hiring fairs for both instructional and non-instructional positions. 

As for Barnett, she’s understanding of the struggle they face, but she said she hopes more resources will be available to help students succeed as they advance.

“We know that there is a lot of work that we have to do for these kids in 10th grade, so I pray to god that all the 10th-grade teachers are still going to be there this year,” Barnett said.

She said she knows that her son, and the other students, will still face testing at the end of the year, teacher or not.

“We really need to help support the kids,” Barnett said.