Some students at Queanbeyan High School have been told to only attend face-to-face classes on campus three days per week, as the school in southern NSW grapples with a shortage of teachers.
In an email sent on Monday evening, principal Jennifer Green advised parents and carers that despite efforts to source local casual teachers, combine classes and reduce the number of classes for core curriculum subjects, the school did not have enough teachers for all classes to operate face-to-face on a daily basis.
"Due to the number of teachers on leave in addition to the permanent positions we have been unable to fill, we are moving to mixed-mode delivery operations," the email read.
The changes mean students in years seven to 10 will only be able to attend campus three days per week, while students in years 11 and 12 are able to attend on all five school days.
The email also noted that isolation periods due to COVID-19 meant many teachers and students were unable to come to school, but senior vice president of the NSW Teachers Federation Amber Flohm said COVID-19 had only exacerbated underlying issues.
Ms Flohm said there were currently 36 permanent vacancies for teachers in NSW's Monaro region, and 2,383 vacancies across the state.
"Before the start of the 2022 school year, in the electorate of Monaro, there were already 36 permanent vacancies of staff," she said.
"That was in October last year. So, yes, COVID has exacerbated the already chronic teacher shortage being experienced in the seat of Monaro and the Queanbeyan region."
According to a recent annual report, in 2020, Queanbeyan High School had 538 students, with 43 per cent of families attending the school in the lowest socio-economic quartile in Australia.
NSW opposition spokeswoman for education Prue Car described the move by Queanbeyan High as "extraordinary."
"It just goes to show just how bad the teacher shortage is right across the state, and particularly in regional NSW," Ms Car said.
"The government has not done enough to address the teacher shortage crisis across our schools."
Ms Car said it was a "fundamental right" of all students to attend a classroom, and some Queanbeyan students were being denied of this right.
"We need them in the classroom, it is the right of every child in NSW to go to their local public school, and because the government hasn't fixed the teacher shortage crisis, we've got a situation in Queanbeyan where not every child can go to school," she said.
Just this morning, NSW Education Minister Sarah Mitchell issued a press release suggesting that more teaching positions would soon be filled across the state, under a program to incentivise staff to move to "make the move to teach in our region, rural and remote communities".
Ms Mitchell said that 50 teachers had already been placed in schools across NSW, including in some regional areas.
Queanbeyan High School was not on the list of 49 schools set to benefit from the program.
Cathy Brennan from the NSW Department of Education said she believed schools across NSW had done well handling the shortage of teachers.
"We have had the extra layers of some of our non-school based teachers being available, and we've supported our schools with a coordination point for schools and our directors to identify additional staff who can come into the schools and ensure educational continuity.
"We have been across the fact that not just in New South Wales but nationally, and indeed globally, there has been a real strain on teacher supply.
"In some subject areas we need to be more strategic, and we have a range of scholarships and incentives to make sure that we can get teachers where we need them most."
But Ms Flohm said the government knew what action needed to be taken to improve the situation, and today's shortage was a result of years of inaction.
"We have never seen it like it is now," she said.
"Our members ... said they've never seen the teacher shortage so acute as it is today.
"That is because we've waited10 years for a 10-year workforce plan from the government and they have done nothing to address this.
