Substitute teachers fail to meet demand

Monday, Nov. 22, 2004 | 11:02 a.m.

Centennial High School was short another substitute teacher last week, so Principal Gerald Velasquez did the only thing he could do -- he taught the ninth grade biology class himself.

"Fortunately the regular teacher had left a lesson plan on the desk so I was able to follow that," Velasquez said. "I've been lucky -- I have a staff that has been willing to pitch in and cover for each other when they can, but it's putting a lot of stress on the system. A rubber band can only be stretched so far."

Even with a districtwide roster of 4,736 substitute teachers there has been an unrelenting shortfall -- as many as 300 requests for classroom coverage often went unfilled on any given day, said Lina Gutierrez, executive director of licensed personnel of the Clark County School District.

Between Aug. 30 -- the first day of the academic year -- and Oct. 20, there were 39,912 requests by school administrators for substitutes to take over classes for half-day or full-day shifts. That equals 2.5 missed days of work for each of the district's 16,100 full-time teachers. Of those requests for substitute coverage, 70 percent were for staff development training sessions.

"When you combine the staff development with the regular absences because a teacher is ill or has a family emergency, there was no way we could meet the demand," Gutierrez said. "We wound up having to combine classes or pay a teacher extra to skip their prep period and cover for someone else."

It's a problem that has plagued the district for years -- and one that district officials say they are taking aggressive steps to address.

At an Oct. 26 meeting, the Clark County Association of School Administrators and district officials agreed that staff development sessions would no longer be scheduled during the regular school day, said Agustin Orci, deputy superintendent of instruction. Instead, teachers will be paid $30 an hour -- $8 more than their negotiated pay for additional hours -- to attend the sessions on weekends or after school, Orci said.

Training sessions already set to take place during school hours will be held as planned but no new sessions of that type may be scheduled, Orci said. The cost to the district of the extra teacher pay is expected to be balanced out by the savings of not having to have as many substitutes, Orci said.

Principals and teachers hailed the decision.

"The bigger the district has grown and the more training we require the more substitutes we've needed," Valasquez said. "We've reached the point that we're taking teachers out of the classroom so frequently that it has become disruptive."

Mary Ella Holloway, president of the Clark County Education Association, said too many teachers have been forced to give up their preparation time to cover their colleagues' classes when substitutes couldn't be found.

The negotiated agreement between the district and the union calls for teachers to have 250 minutes of preparation time each week. When teachers are called upon to work during preparation time they are supposed to be compensated, Holloway said.

"It's a constant complaint," Holloway said. "The problem is a lot of teachers are reluctant to complain because they're trying to be team players and don't want to antagonize their principal."

In order to obtain the required substitute teacher license from the Nevada Department of Education, individuals need a bachelor's degree or at least 62 semester college credits and must pass an FBI background check. The district pays each substitute teacher $90 a day and provides no benefits.

Principals that need "a sub" call people on the roster until one agrees to fill a slot. Substitutes may turn down offers but must work at least once every two weeks in order to maintain active status.

An initiative last year to lure more substitutes by boosting the salary for hard-to-fill positions didn't pay off, Gutierrez said. A new approach is in the works -- the creation of 200 full-time support staff positions for substitute teachers, complete with benefits and better pay.

The cost of the new positions would come from the district's substitute services budget.

The full-time substitutes would work Monday through Friday and accept whatever assignment they were given, Gutierrez said. The east and northeast region schools, which typically have the highest number of unfilled requests for substitutes, would get priority, Gutierrez said.

"Every time you don't have a regular teacher in the classroom it's costing the students in their education because they don't have continuity," Gutierrez said. "There are always going to be situations when we need to call in a substitute but the number of occasions is dropping already."

Since the decision was made last month to end staff development during the regular school day, the average of 200 unfilled requests for substitutes has dropped by two-thirds, Gutierrez said.

Eydie Scher, a substitute teacher in Clark County for more than seven years, said the requirement that every job be accepted will likely be a sticking point for many people who might otherwise apply for the position.

The freedom to pick and choose assignments is the main appeal of the job, said Scher, who previously taught full time in California.

Scher, who has a master's degree in special education, said it isn't unusual for her to receive six or seven phone calls a day from schools seeking her services. She is regularly asked to take long-term positions or even apply for a full-time teaching job in the district but prefers work at her own pace.

"I don't do it for the money. I do it because I love to be with the kids," said Scher, who taught at Piggott Elementary School Monday, Wasden Elementary School Tuesday and Wednesday, then was at Saville Middle School Friday.

"I prefer not to be tied down," she said. "I like being able to say no to a job when I want to."

While teaching at Guinn Middle School last week, Scher had to give up her preparation period to cover other classrooms that did not have a substitute.

"I taught six periods of U.S. history without a break other than lunch," Scher said. "Those were very long days."

Millie McBee, treasurer of the National Substitute Teacher Alliance, said the chance to be a full-time substitute might appeal to individuals who aren't able to meet a school district's educational requirements for regular teachers. McBee said a similar program has been successful in Orange County, Fla., where she is a substitute teacher.

"I've always said, 'A college degree does not a teacher make,' " McBee said. "There are substitutes who would like to work every day but can't because they have to hold another job that gives them health insurance. This (the Clark County School District's proposal) could be a good compromise."

From kindergarten through 12th grade, each U.S. student spends the equivalent of at least one year with substitute teachers, said Geoffrey G. Smith, director of the Substitute Teaching Institute at Utah State University.

As the staff development requirements placed on teachers have grown so has demand for substitutes, Smith said. On average 8 percent of teachers are absent on any given school day, Smith said. Last year Clark County's teachers averaged seven absences over the course of the 184 academic year, or 3.8 percent.

The district this year doubled its training requirement for substitute teachers to two days. With 90 percent of the nation's school districts requiring less than four hours training for substitute teachers, Clark County is "definitely ahead of the curve," Smith said.

"Training is the key to attracting qualified substitute teachers and two days represents a significant commitment by the district," Smith said. "No one wants to wander into a classroom and feel like they're out of their league."

The district's plan to create a pool of permanent substitute teachers is a smart move, Smith said.

"If schools have people they regularly work with, or even a substitute assigned to the campus, it's going to mean consistency," Smith said. "The substitute will be able to work with the teacher beforehand and discuss what needs to be done and follow up afterward. That can only improve the overall quality of instruction students receive."