Districts struggle to staff sub spots
A shortage of substitute teachers has some Oklahoma City metro-area school districts relying on teaching assistants, principals and parent volunteers to staff classrooms.
In many cases, full-time teachers have to skip their planning periods to fill the void, while students without a substitute are frequently split up among other teachers, a strategy that often results in overcrowding.
“It creates a little tension and a little chaos,” said Craig McVay, superintendent of El Reno Public Schools, which fills about 50 percent of requests for substitute teachers. “Combine that with a faculty that’s rather young and inexperienced and you have a recipe for chaos.”
El Reno, a 3,000-student district about 25 miles west of Oklahoma City, typically covers classrooms with teachers and administrative staff when positions go unfilled, McVay said.
“It’s a problem. It’s always been a problem,” he said. “Finding substitutes is a difficult task. I think it’s mostly the low pay and it’s part time and there are no guarantees.”
Linda Deibel, 73, is a substitute teacher for Oklahoma City Public Schools, which fills 67 percent of requests. A retired teacher, Deibel returned to the district in 2002 as a substitute because she could work when she wanted to.
She said a lot of subs don’t get paid enough to deal with the behavior of students.
“I know OKCPS pays more than most of the surrounding districts,” she said. “That may be a big reason why people don’t want to do it . ... They can find other things to do without the same level of responsibility.”
Jason Brunk is assistant superintendent of human resources for Yukon Public Schools, which fills about 83 percent of requests.
Brunk said Oklahoma’s teacher shortage — the state Board of Education has issued more than 2,700 emergency teaching certificates to districts since June — is making it “increasingly more difficult to find qualified substitutes.”
“In years past, there were a significant amount of certified teachers in the substitute pool who were willing to work as a sub in various districts in order to get their foot in the door for a chance to be hired at a later date,” he said.
“Those individuals no longer exist with the current state of our teacher candidate pool in Oklahoma. If they are certified and want a teaching position, they most likely are already hired as a fulltime teacher.”
Until recently, Rep. Kelly Albright, R-Midwest City, taught thirdgrade at Dove Academy, a public charter school in the Oklahoma City district. That changed when she decided to run for office.
“We had two regular subs on our list and a couple of parents on our list who have stepped up to sub,” she said. “Parents aren’t trained in classroom management — knowing how to manage students as far as their behavior — and keeping them focused and on task. A lot of parents don’t have that experience.”
Sen. Carri Hicks, D-Oklahoma City, is a former classroom teacher in the Deer Creek and Putnam City districts.
She, too, stepped down from teaching to run for office. She recently volunteered to sub at D.D. Kirkland Elementary in the Putnam City district, where she said the fill rate for substitutes is 60 percent.
“The turnover has just been so high in the last several years, it’s related or translated to some behavior problems in the classrooms, which has made it difficult for subs to feel effective,” Hicks said.
Putnam City Schools spokesman Steve Lindley said the average fill rate for substitutes in the 19,400-student district in northwest Oklahoma City is about 70 percent.
“The question is how to cover a class,” Lindley said in an email. “In elementary school, a class without a teacher or substitute can be divided up into other classes.
“If need be, a teaching assistant can be moved from another area to help with those classes. Sometimes teaching assistants cover a class when there is no substitute.”
A spokeswoman for the state Education Department said the agency does not keep track of substitute teachers, which are tracked by individual school districts.
In addition to Yukon, officials in the Edmond and Norman school districts reported fill rates for substitutes of 80 percent or higher, which can still be problematic.
On a recent day, Edmond Public Schools had 192 teacher absences, about 39 of which went unfilled, said Randy Decker, the district’s chief human resources officer.
“It means that we’re going to have to divide up classes and separate students into other classes,” he said. “Teachers really need that planning time.”
Decker said he expects the number of teacher absences to grow with the arrival of flu season.
“We typically see our absences due to sick leave increase during that time,” he said.
McVay, meanwhile, said more training and higher pay would attract “more stable employment opportunities.”
“I don’t really have any answers,” he said. “For us, it’s putting our thumb in the dike sometimes.”