Lakeshore Public Schools fully staffed as students return to class

STEVENSVILLE, Mich. (WNDU) - Lakeshore Public Schools was one of many school districts north of the state line to welcome students back to the classroom on Monday.

Unlike some districts who may still be working to fill teaching shortages post-pandemic, Lakeshore Superintendent Greg Eding says they have a full staff.

“What we’re excited about is really starting a year off with a full staff that has certified teachers at every position right now,” he said. “With the lack of teachers that are available out there, I think that’s actually setting us apart from the norm. Being a school district that people want to be at I think is really important. And keeping that culture, really focusing on that culture to keep us in a spot that you not only want to send your kids to but that you want to work in as well.”

In addition to all teaching positions being filled, the superintendent says they’ve also created and filled an HR/communications position and an instruction role, which opened up other positions in the district that have also been filled before the academic year kicked off.

“I’m pretty excited about the entire team’s makeup now, and we really have a lot of energy kind of going into the school year with power, putting systems in place, supporting the staff, promoting the work that we’re doing, and managing the people,” Eding said. “So, it’s pretty exciting.”

The district’s focus is early literacy, which means trying to improve reading scores for kindergarten through second grade students.

Eding also wants parents to know that they don’t need to worry about breakfast or lunch for the kiddos, as the state of Michigan will offer free meals to all public school students beginning this school year.

“So, the state of Michigan, we’ve put in place a situation where every student — it doesn’t matter whether you qualify or not — is going to get two free meals a day. Going to get a free breakfast and a free lunch every single day,” he said. “And that’s just such a great thing that the state of Michigan overall put in place.”

Though no forms need to be filled out to qualify for the free meals, Lakeshore is still asking parents, regardless of income, to fill out the application that was mailed to their homes earlier this month.

That’s because the number of people who fill out the free and reduced lunch forms is also used to determine how much of certain state funding the district will get. So, the more people who fill them out, the more money the district could receive for its programs.

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