Instead, students learn from a teacher being live-streamed to the classroom’s digital whiteboard.
Hiring virtual teachers allowed the district to avoid increasing class sizes or filling vacancies with long term substitutes, said Simone Griffin, superintendent of Benton Harbor Area Schools.
So far, having virtual teachers has gone well, Griffin said. But they aren’t a permanent solution to the district’s ongoing teacher shortage.
The BHAS Board of Education approved a $1.1 million contract with Proximity Learning on Oct. 14 to fill teaching vacancies with Proximity’s virtual educators. The district has 18 teaching vacancies in subjects like math, science and art across grade levels, Griffin said.
The partnership is intended to fill vacancies while efforts are made to recruit in-person teachers.
“This is not the best solution, being honest, but at least it is a solution,” said Michael Robinson, Proximity’s vice president of school partnerships and business development, at the Oct. 14 board meeting.
Griffin suggested the district try Proximity Learning after speaking with a colleague in Kansas who used Proximity Learning in the past.
The virtual teachers, employed through Proximity, teach the district’s lesson plans and host office hours with students. A “facilitator,” employed by the district and trained by Proximity, is in the classroom monitoring and helping students during class.
Griffin said the district will use paraprofessionals and other staff members studying to become teachers through the district’s Grow Your Own teacher program as facilitators.
“The model enhances the professional development trajectory of our facilitators, as they will receive work-based learning by shadowing effective instruction modeled live,” said Dashuna Robinson, BHAS board president.
Benton Harbor’s class sizes range between 21 to 26 students, Griffin said, depending on the grade level. Classrooms with virtual teachers can’t exceed 30 students, per Proximity Learning guidelines.
The teacher shortage isn’t unique to Benton Harbor. School districts across the country are struggling to retain teachers.
“Especially in an environment where you have high poverty, low income, things like that, it’s been an issue in this district for probably 20 plus years,” Griffin said.
Benton Harbor ranks among the lowest Michigan school districts in factors like median income and childhood poverty correlated with educational outcomes.
That creates a challenge when competing with wealthier school districts to attract teachers, Griffin said. But the district remains competitive by offering incentives like retention and recruitment bonuses. Since fall 2025 BHAS has recruited several teachers, Griffin said.
The district’s goal is to fill all teaching vacancies by summer 2026, but that’s dependent on who they are able to recruit, Griffin said.
“There’s no magic wand,” Griffin said. “The benefits far outweigh the challenges when you’re in a pinch for staffing.”
©2025 Advance Local Media LLC. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
