Dearborn Public Schools is warning its community to expect delays getting substitute teachers to schools Tuesday — after discovering late Monday afternoon that the company that has supplied workers for those positions shut down without warning.
"It just came out of the blue. No warning. Just boom," David Mustonen, spokesman for the district, said of the company PESG, an educational staffing and services company for school districts nationwide.
Dearborn isn't the only Michigan district affected. This is what the letter to employees who had been hired by the company said:
"We estimate that this affects between 1,500 and 2,000 substitute schoolteachers throughout the state this week and we have had as many as 15,000 individuals registered with Professional Educational Services Group this year at about 110-120 districts — all are affected directly or indirectly by this shut-down."
The situation will likely exacerbate an already difficult time school districts statewide have finding substitute teachers to fill classrooms when permanent teachers are off in training, sick or caring for a sick relative. Districts also struggle to find substitute bus drivers.
Mustonen said the district only learned of it when subs began calling, informing human resources officials they had received a letter from the company that said it was closing down in Michigan. It's unclear if the shut down affects the company's operations in other states.
"We regret to inform you that Professional Educational Services Group, LLC is stopping all operations in Michigan effective immediately," said the company's letter, written by Henry Bledsoe, the president and CEO of the company. "This means that your employment — and the employment of all Professional Educational Services Group employees in Michigan — is terminated on October 22, 2018."
Mustonen said late Monday that the district had not spoken to anyone from the company because the rest of the day was spent "putting together a plan for tomorrow."
The Dearborn district is among the largest in Michigan, with nearly 21,000 students and 2,700 staff members. If just 2 percent of its staff were out on any given day, Mustonen said, "that's a large number," of substitutes needed.
PESG provided substitute teachers, but also subs in non-teaching areas such as bus drivers and secretaries. And up until now, the company had a good track record with the district. It had a fill rate of 90 percent — meaning the company was able to fill 90 percent of the substitute positions the district needed.
The Dearborn district has worked with the company for about a decade and was still under contract, "so there may be some legal issues," Mustonen said. The company has Michigan offices in Burton and Caledonia.
So what went wrong?
In the letter to employees, Bledsoe said the company has been "actively seeking capital to keep operations going and have been in good faith negotiations with a competitor to sell the business," and prevent terminations.
"The urgency of the shutdown was exacerbated, however, when those negotiations broke down over the weekend due to unforeseen developments outside of our control," he said. "Without operating funds to stay open, therefore, the company is now forced to close immediately. Under the circumstances, we believed our only serious option was to notify you as soon as possible."
Mustonen said Monday that in Dearborn, all professional development activities for the rest of the week have been canceled.
"We could not have teachers out of the building knowing we were going to have trouble finding subs and filling vacancies."
Administrators in the district came together via conference calls Monday night to come up with an emergency board. Principals and parent leaders have stepped up to help. Mustonen said the district should be in good shape. But he warned of delays because all subs will have to report to the district office first — instead of directly to their schools — for processing.
"There's going to be some hiccups. There's going to be some delays. We're asking people to be patient, to work with us."
The Free Press left messages Monday night with officials at PESG, but was unable to reach anyone for comment.
