The Vigo County School Corp. has been contending with some substitute teacher shortages, although the year-to-date fill rate is still 95 percent, “even during challenging recruitment periods,” according to Kelly Educational Staffing.
The school district outsources the service, and Kelly has provided substitute teachers for Vigo County schools since 2008.
“Consistent with national trends, recruiting for substitute teachers is as challenging as it has ever been,” according to a Kelly Services spokeswoman in Troy, Mich. “Lower unemployment rates and variable labor market conditions, coupled with specific points of the year when substitute teacher absences are historically high [such as October], put pressure on the pool of available talent.”
“Historically higher” applies to all school districts served by KES, not just Vigo. Reasons include professional development and training that occurs this time of year, which is also when cold/flu season begins.
A letter recently written by April Cottrell, the KES account manager in Terre Haute, to substitute teachers stated:
“We are currently looking for substitute teachers that are available to work every school day. If you are interested in working everyday as a substitute teacher [not a specific long term job] please email me so I can reach out to you with more details. We are experiencing shortages on a daily basis for the ‘same day’ jobs that become available with limited notice, especially in the middle and high school environments.”
Superintendent Danny Tanoos said that Kelly Educational Staffing provides a “fairly good system overall” for providing substitutes. “This year there have been a few pockets where we’ve had trouble getting them filled,” but Kelly remains “the best game in town” for supplying substitutes, Tanoos said.
When substitutes aren’t available, the district will pay teachers to use their planning period to cover a class that does not have a substitute. “Sometimes we must take educational assistants to cover a class; we need someone in the room with kids,” Tanoos said.
He sees the problem as “cyclical” rather than persistent. Kelly Educational Staffing has a “fairly high” fill rate, Tanoos said.
In some cases, the district is using longer-term substitutes for some classes in which it could not find licensed teachers. If those substitutes aren’t doing a good job, “we release them immediately,” Tanoos said. Those classes most impacted tend to be special education or more specialized classes.
According to KES, there are about 260 substitute teachers now in the pool for VCSC, with ongoing recruiting happening every day.
Vigo County schools establish the pay rates, which is $65 per day, based on a minimum of 60 college credits. Retired educators are paid $85 per day if they are teaching in their licensed field.
On occasion, substitute assignments may extend to “long term” status, which means after the 15th consecutive day in the same classroom, the pay rate increases to $125 per day. “Most often these positions are filled by a licensed teacher from our sub pool,” according to KES.
Candidate requirements include education verification (minimum of 60 college credits); substitute teaching permit or license; two professional references; experience working with children or students preferred; ability to manage classroom situations effectively; successfully passing of background check/screening requirements.