‘ALL HANDS ON DECK’: Shortage of substitute teachers posing problems in schools

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Principal Sarah Greulich credits the staff at the school for the prestigious Blue Ribbon award. "They work so hard to cultivate and develop relationships with our students, our families and each other,” she said. (Tom Russo | Daily Reporter)

HANCOCK COUNTY — Jenni Buchanan worked in health care for 33 years. When she retired in 2019, she decided to give back and became a substitute teacher for Southern Hancock schools.

When the pandemic hit in March, her plan didn’t change. She kept her name on the list and has been working nonstop as a substitute since the current school year started with only a slight break to recover from minor surgery.

While her efforts haven’t wavered despite the pandemic, it’s not the same for others who fill in for teachers. In fact, there is a shortage of substitutes at Southern Hancock and the other districts in the county, forcing administrators to juggle resources as subs have dropped off call lists. Even with all the precautions schools are taking to keep teachers, staff and students safe, it’s still difficult to get people to help. At least one school in the county had to close and switch for a time to virtual learning because so many employees were out. At least two districts have reached out to returning college students to pitch in during their holiday break.

“There are a lot of faces I have not seen this year as far as subs go,” Buchanan said.

Wes Anderson, director of school and community relations at Southern Hancock, noted schools are always looking for good substitutes, even in a normal school year. However, this year has been a particular challenge.

“We’ve never been in situations where we are now where we are pretty desperate and are honestly really concerned about our ability to staff right now,” Anderson said. Occasionally, Southern Hancock has resorted to dispatching officials from the district office to act as substitutes.

The novel coronavirus has not widely hit the county’s teachers. Data reported to the Indiana State Department of Health show fewer than 70 teachers have tested positive for the virus since the public accounting began earlier this fall. That figure, however, is a little misleading: A number of teachers have needed to enter quarantine due to close-contact COVID exposure; others have had to stay home because their own children were in quarantine.

“As the number of COVID cases start to increase around the state for one reason or another, our numbers also go up, and it hurts us coming and going,” Anderson said.

Southern Hancock substitutes make $85 a day if subbing for a certified teacher; it pays $13.20 per hour for hourly workers such as instructional, fitness, or media assistant substitutes. During a normal year, the district will have a roster of as many as 120 substitutes. Officials are not certain how many on the current list are making themselves available to fill in, but they acknowledged the number is considerably lower than normal.

The dilemma of keeping teachers and substitutes in the classroom has touched every school corporation in central Indiana, Greenfield-Central Superintendent Harold Olin said.

During a normal school year, the district might have as many as 80 substitutes on a consistent basis. This year, the number has varied to as low as 50.

“We have had a substitute teacher ‘fill rate’ of about 50% for the last few weeks,” he said.

They’ve been fortunate to be able to fill their classroom needs with other internal staff, mostly instructional assistants.

Scott Kern, G-C’s human resources director, said they’ve had to get creative to find ways to make sure classrooms are staffed.

“I think there is concern about COVID without a doubt, but for the people who do come here, we have a great plan in place to keep people safe,” Kern said.

That includes cleaning each room and the hallways every night while requiring social distancing and wearing masks during the day. The strategy appears to be working: G-C’s infection count has been lower than the state average, leaders point out.

“But, the problem is when you get into the issue of quarantine because of close contact, and that’s the vast majority of our cases,” Kern said. “We’re doing everything we can to keep the teacher in the classroom.”

When a G-C teacher is absent from in-person instruction due to quarantine, he or she will still be part of the classroom remotely if they’re able to work. But in those cases, a substitute has to be in the classroom to supervise and make sure things run smoothly.

The schools are managing things with assistants and have even had assistant principals and principals as well as central office staff going into the classroom.

“It’s kind of all hands on deck,” Kern said.

The district offers $80 per day for the first 20 days of substitute teaching and $85 per day thereafter.

Sarah Greulich, principal at Harris Elementary, said her teachers approach each day as it comes, then improvise where they must.

“Often times we just get creative,” Greulich said. “We identify our needs and fill them internally.”

She credited her staff for its hard work in keeping the educational experience going through innovative technology. The communication has helped keep the school open in spite of lower substitute numbers.

“The great thing is we’re all dedicated to providing a safe and effective learning environment for the students,” Greulich said. “We’re going to make it work until it doesn’t work.”

Adam Barton, principal at Eastern Hancock High School, noted the need for substitute teachers is growing.

They do have some loyal and dedicated subs to call on, Barton said, but they could use some help.

“We would love for more people in our community to come forward and help out over the next few months so that students can stay in school,” Barton said.

He suggested that college students coming home for break could be good candidates to assist in the classroom. Kern said G-C has made a similar appeal, with some success.

Mt. Vernon is experiencing staffing challenges because of the pandemic as well. Earlier this month, the school corporation had to close Fortville Elementary School and switch to virtual instruction because so many employees were out, due in part to themselves or their children needing to enter quarantine.

“Substitutes are in high demand in most schools right now due to the unique nature of the longevity of staff absences,” Maria Bond, the district’s director of community relations, told the Daily Reporter in an email. “Mt. Vernon is bolstering our marketing efforts to recruit and fill absences in a variety of ways.”

Bond added a staffing company handles scheduling Mt. Vernon’s substitutes, and the district is working with it to streamline the hiring process as well as discussing ways to incentivize open positions. The staffing company also works to fill openings for instructional assistants along with absences for custodians and food service workers.

“We are working on a series of short recruitment videos featuring our instructional assistant positions, as well as custodian and bus driver positions, and look forward to sharing them out likely after the first of the year to help fill open positions,” Bond said.

Anderson said Southern Hancock also is looking for bus drivers and custodians.

“We have a lot of custodial positions we just can’t fill right now,” Anderson said.

The bottom line for substitutes like Buchanan, the Southern Hancock substitute teacher, is getting the opportunity to help keep kids in school.

“The children have been great and want and need to be in school,” she said. “The kids are great about keeping their masks on, but I understand, some people are just not comfortable being around lots of people right now.”

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School districts have their own screening processes for substitute teachers, but the state Department of Education also has modest requirements. Candidates must:

–Hold a high school diploma or high school equivalency certificate.

–Be at least 18 years old.

According to the DOE website, candidates should should apply for a permit via the Indiana Department of Education’s Licensing Verification and Information System online at www.doe.in.gov/licensing/lvis.

People interested in working as substitutes may also contact their school districts for more information.

Eastern Hancock: 317-936-5444

Greenfield-Central: 317-462-4434

Mt. Vernon: 317-485-3100

Southern Hancock: 317-861-4463

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