The 2022-23 Palmerton Area School District staff roster continued to come into focus Tuesday night with the hiring of a high school guidance counselor.

Anne Bleiler was unanimously chosen for the position at a salary of $48,500, effective Aug. 16.

Jamie Schuler, Palmerton’s assistant to the superintendent, said Bleiler will be replacing Maggie Schaffer at the high school.

“Mrs. Schaffer is staying with the district, but transitioning to a newly created elementary guidance position,” Schuler said.

Palmerton budgeted Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief money to help fund the added elementary guidance counselor position.

The hire moves Palmerton closer to a full staff, but Schuler said there are some key roles left to fill. The school board on Tuesday accepted the resignation of high school Spanish teacher Lisa Failla, effective July 19.

“That Spanish position is our main concern when it comes to starting the school year,” Schuler said. “We haven’t had any applications come in at this time. We are working with some retirees who have reached out to us, but there are some Pennsylvania Public School Employees’ Retirement System issues we are trying to work through.”

The district also has interviews upcoming for a health and physical education teaching position at the high school, as well as a secondary librarian/media specialist/gifted teacher position.

“We did post some of the positions back in the spring, but we waited to start interviewing as our priority this summer was to get the Towamensing principal position taken care of and go from there,” Schuler said.

Pennsylvania is in the midst of one its worst teacher shortages in memory.

According to the Pennsylvania Department of Education, the number of new teaching certificates in the state has declined 66% since 2010.

“The shortage is very concerning to me and we have to be on our toes,” Director Audrey Larvey said. “We have no idea what next year will bring as far as what we might need but if we don’t jump on it early, we might lose some good candidates.”

Last month, the district hired Brianna Keiser as high school art teacher at an annual salary of $47,000 and Kayla Field as high school business education teacher at an annual salary of $56,500.

It is also hoping to fill long-term building substitute positions, something it hopes will ease a substitute teacher shortage.

Unlike a day-to-day substitute, who gets paid $120 per day, a long-term substitute would receive a regular salary and benefits.

“We’ve had some inquiries about that,” Schuler said, “so we’re hoping to be able to move forward there.”