REYNOLDSBURG, Ohio — Jennifer Dean has called the kitchen of Taylor Road Elementary home for the last two years.
For her, a student’s stomach is what gives her a full heart.
“To make sure that every kid gets a good meal every day,” she said. “You never know one day to the next what [a child’s] situation is.”
This year, though, she said less than a full staff has led to others doing double and triple the work.
“We seem to be short-staffed all the time,” she said. “It makes our jobs a lot harder.”
In her kitchen, she oftentimes only has herself and one other worker. Her third helper, she said, often needs to go to other schools due to a lack of staffing.
“It’s inconvenient now, but it’s quickly becoming dire if that makes sense,” Taylor Road Elementary Principal Jamie Johnson said.
Johnson says her school sees shortages from cooks to substitutes.
“Teachers pitch in when they need to,” she said. “So there’s been times where we’ve been short custodians and teachers will kind of gather up trash and put it in one location to make it easier for the nighttime person that’s here. We’ve had people jump into the serving line in the cafeteria as needed.”
“You name it, we have a job for you,” Reynoldsburg City Schools Interim Superintendent Dr. Dan Good said.
Good says the district has hosted two job fairs this year. The most recent job fair happened Thursday.
“Specifically, we’re looking for a lot of cooks, cook helpers, line servers, drivers, people that are mechanics…paraprofessionals that work in the classrooms directly with children and teachers,” he said.
Because of illness and no drivers, one day last week the district had to cancel morning and afternoon preschool so that drivers could make other routes. According to the district, Thursday’s job fair received applicants for two substitutes and two cooks.
Dean said competitive pay, summers and holidays off are well worth it for anyone considering. Plus, she says what really makes this job count is being able to make a difference in a young life.
“To see those smiles on those kids’ faces every day,” she said. “That makes it all worth it.”
Reynoldsburg City Schools employment page can be found here.