San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Demand for substitute teachers high
Nina Billington arrived at Jackson Middle School last 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 consistency of demand was hard to come by for substitutes, she said. But with full-time 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 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.
Combine that with the fact that many substitute teachers are older and more vulnerable to the effects
of COVID-19, and 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 newdaily coronavirus cases has steadily increased in Bexar County and across the country. 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.”
The district, which has about 3,600 students in classrooms, has had 33 students and staff test positive for the virus since the semester began, 10 of whom were on campus at some point. None of those cases has resulted in a spread on any campus, the email
stated.
“As we’re preparing for the winter, we want to make sure we have as many subs as we can,” said Frank Alfaro, the district’s assistant superintendent for administrative services. “We want to try to be proactive and keep our options open for our students if they want to attend class in person or at home.”
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
officials in other districts, they have found their options more limited when teachers 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.”
Northside ISD has had 357 virus cases on its campuses so far this semester, with 98 still active as of earlier this month.
North East ISD has about 33,000 students in classrooms and has had 216 total cases this semester. Earlier this month, there were 59 active cases. The district has about 150 fewer substitute teachers in its pool this year than in past years, Chancellor said, a drop of about 13 percent.
Administrators in the spring approved the hiring of more substitutes and this semester reduced the requirements for substitute teacher applicants. Before, they needed to have a college degree, but now they need to have only 60 college credit hours to be considered. North East has asked local colleges to advertise this to their students in an effort to improve recruitment,
Chancellor said.
Alamo Heights ISD has expanded its substitute teacher trainings from twice a year to once a month as it seeks to hire more substitutes, especially those able and willing to work with students requiring bilingual or special education, said Frank Stanage, the district’s human resources coordinator.
But until school districts can fill those gaps, they will have to find temporary solutions. 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 it 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 in place at the schools where she works. She plans to keep picking up shifts to support the district’s 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.”