Education leaders say substitute teacher shortage in Missouri made worse by COVID-19
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)
Before COVID-19 hit Missouri, state education leaders say schools were already having trouble finding substitute teachers. Now, getting those educators in the classroom comes with a lot more challenges.
Several Mid-Missouri school districts have said adequate staffing is a top concern as in-person classes resume and cases of the virus are found in buildings.
The deputy director of the Missouri School Board Association Brent Ghan said the lack of substitute teachers was a main topic of concern for board members at a meeting over the weekend.
"We've got more absences on one hand and few subs on the other, and it's really creating a serious situation in some school districts," Ghan said.
He said districts are dealing with faculty self-quarantining, as well as less retired teachers who usually sub wanting to come back into school buildings.
"Those retired teachers happen to be in an age group that is more at risk for coronavirus infection," Ghan said. "Many of them are of them are declining to get back in the classroom."
To combat the lack of substitute teachers, the Missouri Board of Education approved a new 20-hour online training course that can be taken to receive a substitute teaching certification. The other option is having 60 semester hours of college coursework.
The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Assistant Commissioner Paul Katnik said about 1,270 people have completed or are participating since it opened about 3 weeks ago.
"We were talking to districts as they were calling their list of subs over the summer, and some were reporting that almost half said, 'I'm not going to be substitute teaching this year,'" Katnik said.
He also said staffing companies also reported to the department they had shortages anywhere from 15 to 27 percent. Filling those holes in classrooms poses another issue for districts, Katnik said,
"School districts are encountering all kinds of challenges in terms of quarantining teachers and quarantining classrooms," Katnik said. "Trying to make that work is a huge challenge for our administrators"
The department is hopeful the relaxed restrictions will relieve some of the pressure on school districts amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
"The whole point of this is, what kind of resources can we put in their hands to position them to make those tough decisions," Katnik said.
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