One principal says they have to start searching for teachers up to seven months in advance of the new school year. (file image) Photo: RNZ / Richard Tindiller
Less than a week away from the first students of the year heading back to school, some principals are still crying out for staff to fill final roles.
Meanwhile, other schools which had managed to fully staff each class were desperate for more relievers in the chance teachers were sick or away from work, calling the situation "dire".
The shortage in applicants was causing principals to resort to employing teachers from overseas and stepping in to teach themselves.
All types of schools were being affected, and the additional burdens on senior management was causing a mass exodus of principals according to some.
Papatoetoe High School students will start their year just after Waitangi Day.
Principal Vaughan Couillault still had some roles he needed filled two weeks out from the big day.
"I still have a maths - science vacancy to fill," he said, "and I also have a hard materials vacancy that I need to fill as well, and those have been advertised since before Christmas."
Couillault, who was also the president of the Secondary Principals Association of New Zealand (SPANZ), said it was not a new issue, but it was one which was not getting any easier.
"It is challenging still to attract quality applicants to positions, so I've got a position that I've advertised at the moment for example, and whilst there are applicants for that job, there aren't any that are currently based in New Zealand."
Despite the difficulty, the Ministry of Education estimates there will be more than enough primary school teachers this year, and likely enough secondary teachers (file image). Photo: RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly
Kaitaia Primary School principal Brendon Morrissey was lucky to have classrooms full of rostered teachers for its first day on 30 January.
But even that did not mean he was out of the woods, he said.
"We have not got very many relief teachers, so if teachers are away sick then we have to look into internal options for coverage and that can often mean senior management are going into the classrooms or there are classrooms being split for the day."
The entire surrounding region of Kaitaia was leaning on extremely limited relieving staff to fill in those gaps, Morrissey said.
"Realistically, two. For a school of well over 300 children, 15 classrooms, two relievers."
The immediate solution if relievers could not fill in was to give remaining teachers a greater workload, Morrissey said.
But he said that would put additional stress on teachers and principals, and disrupt the learning of students.
He told RNZ there were Ministry of Education documents which showed almost 200 principals left the profession last year.
The ministry acknowledged the existence of a document, but would not confirm a number.
"One word - dire. We cannot continue this way for much longer," Morrissey said. "What's going to happen is that high attrition rate is going to keep going on and we're going to lose more and more."
Raglan Area School principal Louisa Barham said it was especially hard for rural schools to employ and retain qualified high school teachers.
"It's really hard for them to compete with the larger schools," she said. "If I want a maths teacher, the maths teacher really has to have a second string to his or her bow.
"Because I won't have enough maths teaching for them to have a full-time job."
Specialty teachers, especially those fluent in te reo, were "head hunted" for their abilities, Barham said.
Raglan Area School principal Louisa Barham says specialty teachers with te reo knowledge are sought out (file image). Photo: RNZ / Tom Furley
And that led to searches for teaching staff kicking off up to seven months in advance.
"Most principals, no matter what school you're in, you're looking to recruit for the following year in June," Barham said.
The additional stress and responsibility was becoming an overbearing burden on senior management and principals, she said.
"I'm in the Facebook principal's page, they're just leaving in droves," she said. "Every week you're looking online and someone's saying 'bye, I'm out'."
Despite the difficulty, the Ministry of Education estimates there will be more than enough primary school teachers this year, and likely enough secondary teachers.
Education Workforce Hautū Anna Welanyk was not as quick to jump to the conclusion that there was a mass exodus of principals.
"We collect retention data which shows the retention rates for all principals is consistently at or over 92 percent," she said.
A spokesperson for the ministry told RNZ the specific number of principals who left the job in 2023 was still being worked on.