Mineral County schools struggle to find substitutes

During a regular school year, it’s already a struggle for Mineral County school districts to find enough substitute teachers, but during a pandemic it becomes even more challenging.

Whether teachers are absent from the classroom due to COVID-19, other illnesses, or close contact quarantining, schools around the state and the country are having to step up to fill in the gaps.

At St. Regis Schools Superintendent Joe Steele explained, “Some of our long-time subs have decided not to return due to the Covid, age, desire to spend more time with grandchildren, those kinds of things. We generally like to start with ten subs on the list, but this past year has been tough as subs decide to remove themselves from the list.”

So far this school year very few staff members from St. Regis have come down with COVID or had serious health related problems. Rather the struggle as with most area schools is the overlapping roles that teachers play.

Steele said, “What hurts small districts is that teachers are often coaches and advisors, so when an event takes them out of the building, we have to cover that class. This can be hard when you have limited subs and a lot of teachers are gone at the same time.”

With roughly a quarter of the school year gone, and winter sports concluded districts are preparing for spring activities.

Steele said, “We are blessed that our staff is understanding and supportive of extracurricular activities. Teachers are willing to cover each other's classes, or bring some of the absent teacher's students into their classrooms. In addition, our Friday schedule is pretty flexible and driven by student learning needs. This allows us to create workshops in areas where students are struggling, so we can cover the absence of a teacher in that way.”

To become a substitute teacher, you need to pass a background check, and have a high school diploma. At St. Regis School district if candidates complete a three-hour substitute teacher training online through the Office of Public Instruction, minimum wage pay bumps up to $10 per hour.

“Our subs are mostly retired people who are in the age group that make them more susceptible to Covid. We have had a couple of subs remove themselves due to health concerns. I completely understand those concerns,” Steele mentioned.

“Basketball season is the hardest time to cover classrooms with subs as many staff are coaches or parents of players. The last couple of months is track and golf, so we don't have as many staff members involved in it. It should be an easier end of season,” said Steele. Regardless St. Regis School district as with the rest of the county schools are always eager for more substitutes to join their rosters.

Down in Superior School District, Superintendent Scott Kinney relayed a similar position, “Law of supply and demand. As we have staff out, we have to infill with substitutes and although we have an amazing flexible few, more are always needed.”

In the fall Superior holds yearly training for substitute teachers. Kinney explained, “The principals and our secretaries do a good job of making sure our subs have everything they need to be successful.”

As with other districts, substitutes must pass a background check and certified subs, folks that have held a teaching certificate can earn $85 per day and non-certified subs earn $75 when filling in for certified positions. When someone substitutes in a Classified position the pay is from $8.75 to $9.50 per hour depending on the position.

“Ev Schultz at the high school compiles our sub-list each month and when it changes, we bring it to the board for approval. Currently, we have five JH/HS and five Elementary subs that are active on the list and we have eight substitute bus drivers,” explained Kinney.

Often times subs will have preferences in regards to what age groups they’re willing to work with and which grade levels they feel most comfortable with. Kinney said, “Every sub's background is unique as are their schedules, and our secretaries and principals are adept at knowing who can work when and where. Some subs are new this year and some have subbed for us for years.”

Like other schools in the county, Superior’s sub list has many retirement age folks who step up to come and help the schools keep on track.

Kinney stated, “Our subs do tend to be more "experienced" and a few of our diehards understandably were reluctant to substitute this year due to COVID. However, our subs have busy lives and work for us when it works in their schedules.”

Several substitute teachers in the area even work in more than one school, with their week days planned out in which ever district requests them.

One positive from the way COVID has restructured the school year is that staff members have benefited from less staff travel for training. Zoom meeting and virtual conferences helped alleviate the need for subs in some areas.

However, from week-to-week teachers have had to be adaptable and dynamic filling in wherever needed.

Kinney shared, “We are creative...we have an all-hands-on-deck mentality where people cover for those that are out. Our staff is awesome in their resolve to get the job done. Many times, like this past week, very few teachers took their prep-time and instead filled in where needed. Like everything else that occurs in a pandemic, we've had to be very flexible.”

Generally, word of mouth is any school’s best way of finding subs, that and having community members who are connected with the school and know of their needs.

Kinney expressed, “We are lucky as we have an amazing group of subs that love our kids, for which we are grateful!” With increased cleaning procedures and health measures one of the hardest areas for local schools to find assistance is custodial positions, like Superior is currently looking to fill.

With the end of the school year in sight the last several months tend to fly by.

“Spring is always crazy around here. With golf, track and tennis all running full speed starting next week, as well as spring field trips, we will have a bunch of kids and coaches out competing in activities across western Montana. That being said, we will continue to task our subs as we always have and push hard until summer,” said Kinney.