Demand is high for substitute teachers
Quarantines, COVID spike create a ‘perfect storm’ for shortage as schools scramble to plug holes
SAN ANTONIO —Nina Billington arrived at Jackson Middle School this week ready to wrap up a long-term substitute teaching assignment — and she was already looking ahead to her next one.
Before the coronavirus pandemic, that kind of demand was hard to come by for substitutes, she said. But with fulltime teachers having to stay home more often as cases of COVID-19 impose quarantines and disrupt schedules, some school administrators are scrambling to hire additional substitutes so that students can stay in classrooms.
“I’m called every single day now,” said Billington, 66, a former full-time teacher who works for the North East Independent School District. “Normally I wouldn’t be that lucky.”
As more and more students have returned to brick-and-mortar schools this year, and as districts have expanded their virus testing and screening efforts, more positive cases among students and staff have followed. It sometimes requires teachers who might have come in contact with them to leave their classrooms to quarantine for days at a time.
Combine that with the fact that many substitute teachers are older and more vulnerable to the effects of COVID-19, the supply has dwindled as demand has ramped up, and you get “kind of the perfect storm,” said Aubrey Chancellor, spokeswoman for North East ISD.
“Now there is an increased demand like we’ve never seen before and you’re already short on those substitutes,” Chancellor said. “There’s fewer to choose from, but also you need more.”
That catch-22 situation has been exacerbated in recent weeks as the number of new daily coronavirus cases has steadily increased. And with holidays approaching and larger indoor gatherings likely to take place, school officials are worried about the potential for a surge in cases — and, in turn, more teacher absences.
On Monday, Alamo Heights ISD Superintendent Dana Bashara sent an email to parents urging them to take precautions for a “safe and healthy Thanksgiving break” and notifying them that the district’s pool of substitute teachers was already strained.
If case numbers among students and staff get higher, the email said, groups of in-person students could be forced to temporarily switch to remote learning until classrooms can be staffed again.
“As we progress further into the school year, we've experienced the need for staff members to be quarantined as an additional layer of precaution,” the email stated. “This results in an even greater need for additional reliable substitute teachers to help in classrooms where our teachers are at home teaching remotely into their classroom.”
Officials in Northside ISD, which now has 46,000 students in classrooms, said they have not experienced greater need for substitutes this semester, but like other districts, have found their options more limited when teachers do have to be absent from the classroom.
“Substitutes do have concerns with returning to classrooms,” said Mark Rustan, the district’s director of human resources. “Substitutes are choosing to work fewer days at this time, so while the demand is similar, the number of available substitutes is fewer.”
North East ISD has had to combine classes in some instances and even have staff from the central office go to a school to act as a substitute teacher when they could not find one in time, Chancellor said.
Billington said she’s not afraid of contracting COVID-19 because she has confidence in the safety protocols at the schools where she works. She plans to keep picking up shifts to support students, she said.
“The schools are doing the best they can, and the teachers are doing the best they can, too,” Billington said. “I feel like I’m not only helping the students, but I’m helping the (schools) too.”
“It’s just different,” she added. “I never thought education would be like this.”