Tucson Standard

Tucson Unified School District (TUSD) board members recently gathered to strategize tackling issues they face for the upcoming school year, including a teacher shortage that finds the district 23 math teachers short and having to consider other options to fill vacancies.

"The math teacher vacancy situation is of the utmost urgency," Superintendent Gabriel Trujillo told KGun9.com. "We're about three weeks away from starting school. We do not want to be in a situation where high school and middle school classrooms having daily subs...covering a different sub every single day."

Members also discussed ways to solidify issues for students, with Trujillo noting that assignments are just days away from being cemented for the more than 15,000 students in need this school year.   

"What's new this year is students have been assigned specific locations in the district," he said. "It's safer and more efficient than what the practice was last year where parents were given the option of two or three different hub locations to choose from."

The board also used the meeting to approve the budget for Fiscal Year 2023, paving the way for the district to increase its minimum wage to $15 per hour.

"There is a lot of work to be done with compensation, but we believe this move will significantly increase our employees' ability to navigate some very difficult economic conditions right now with all of the inflation," Trujillo said.