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ST. LOUIS — Reading specialists in St. Louis Public Schools will be assigned to classrooms full time to help address a shortage of certified teachers, two months after the district launched its “Literacy for the Lou” campaign.

“Our primary goal is to enhance the educational outcomes for our students. With these changes, we will reduce the number of classrooms lacking certified teachers by 10%, affecting hundreds of children immediately,” reads a letter sent to reading teachers earlier this month from Myra Berry, interim chief of human resources.

The 24 specialists will move next fall to open teaching positions in one of the district’s 40 elementary schools. There were 272 long-term substitutes serving as primary classroom teachers in SLPS as of mid-March, according to the district.

On state tests in English last year, 44% of students in SLPS scored below basic, the lowest level of language skills. Only Normandy, Riverview Gardens districts and the St. Louis charter schools Lift for Life and Momentum Academy fared worse in the region.

The reading specialists in SLPS were funded for several years with a $2.5 million annual grant from the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. The specialists typically pull struggling students out of the classroom to work one on one or in small groups.

Superintendent Keisha Scarlett said the district’s persistently low reading scores support moving the specialists to the front of the classroom.

“What we do know is that classroom teachers are the No. 1 driver of student outcomes,” Scarlett said. “We have highly qualified reading teachers who are going to the students who need them the most.”

The $4.5 million Literacy for the Lou campaign includes upgrades to all SLPS libraries, thousands of new books for classrooms and homes, teacher training and reading incentives for students.

More after-school tutoring will be available to students who need extra support in reading, Scarlett said, adding that retired SLPS teachers have been recruited to help with the effort.

The reading specialists will have first choice of open classroom positions at their schools or will be placed by seniority and qualifications at other schools. Teachers must confirm their preferred locations by Friday, and the transitions will start in the 2024-25 school year.

“I believe our teachers are so focused on building their craft and supporting their students right there in the classrooms,” she said. “Our best way to move forward is making sure that the teacher has everything they need to support students.”

The reading teachers’ salaries and benefits will remain the same after the reassignments, according to Ray Cummings, president of Local 420 of the American Federation of Teachers.

“I always caution our people when they take a job on a grant that they have to be careful because they might decide to cut it out when the money runs out,” Cummings said. “It’s my understanding that the district is just adopting a different strategy of getting the same kind of work done.”