Your teacher caught the flu?
Plenty of substitutes need the work, but districts tighten belts
Published: November 03. 2009 4:00AM PST
As flu season continues to build throughout the area, one thing school districts need not fear is a shortage of substitute teachers.
The High Desert Education Service District, which operates the SubFinder program to connect substitutes to schools in the Bend-La Pine, Crook County, Culver, Redmond and Sisters school districts and with the Central Oregon Intergovernmental Council, has about 1,200 available substitutes on its rolls this year. That’s a significant increase from previous years, and with districts cutting back on their substitute usage to save money, it’s leaving some people low on work.
Kristen Johns, substitute coordinator for the High Desert ESD, said the number of interested substitutes is at an all-time high.
“Last year we were up to close to 1,100 by the end of the year, but in the years before that we were probably at 800,” she said.
Substitutes are contacted through the automated SubFinder system for jobs that fit their profiles. For example, a substitute can opt to work only in elementary school classrooms. Substitute teachers must be licensed.
At the start of the 2008-09 school year, Johns said districts saw many teacher absences.
“Schools were using a lot of subs, and we kept hiring more subs, and then there was a lot of interest in getting on the list because a lot of people had lost jobs in other fields,” she said. “We ended the year with that situation of having a lot of people on the list and not as many available sub jobs.”
The start of the 2009-10 school year has been similar.
Johns said officials in area districts asked the High Desert ESD to add to the substitute list any interested teachers who were laid off or whose contracts were not renewed last year.
But while the number of available substitute teachers is at an all-time high, schools are trying hard to limit the number of substitutes they use.
On an average day, Johns said about 100 people are given substitute assignments in the districts through the SubFinder program.
Jewell Elementary Principal Bruce Reynolds said he’s asked teachers to be very careful about substitute usage.
“We really look at each substitute to see if there is a way we can cover it,” he said. “If a teacher has an appointment that can’t be scheduled for any other time, we figure out if we have certified people available. We try to cover for each other.”
If a teacher is sick or needs to be out all day, the school will then call for a substitute.
At La Pine Elementary, Principal Tammy Doty said even she’s been doing some substituting when teachers are out. She’s also pleading with her teachers to wash their hands and sneeze into their elbows.
“We’re just encouraging them to make appointments after school hours and things like that, or if they have to do it, make it early or late so we’re only hiring subs for half days,” she said. “And I’m asking them to be healthier so they’re not getting sick.”
By state law, substitute teachers must be paid for a half day or a whole day. The daily rate is established by a state statute. Any substitute working up to four hours receives $77.36, and any substitute working more than four hours receives $154.72.
As a result, when a teacher needs a substitute to cover a one-hour absence, the sub still gets paid for half a school day.
“When we need them for a half hour, we just have another teacher cover that,” said Bend-La Pine Schools Human Resources Director Jim Widsteen. “We are trying to be prudent and cost-effective.”
For Bend resident Faith Gilpin, 62, the lack of substitute jobs is noticeable.
Gilpin has been substituting in the area for about nine years, and has about 30 years of education experience in the region. She substitutes at elementary schools in Bend, Redmond and La Pine.
“It changes from year to year. It sort of goes in clumps,” she said.
This year, she’s less busy than in previous years.
“I want to work as much as possible,” she said last week. “Up until last year, I worked almost full-time, and this year it’s probably half-time or a little more. And again it runs in clumps. Last week I worked all five days. This week is slower.”
At the end of last year, Gilpin heard from other substitutes that they weren’t getting as much work as they’d hoped. She’s heard less of that this year, but suspects it’s because school just started a couple of months ago.
Gilpin also believes the substitute work may continue to pick up.
“Last week I subbed for two different teachers who were out with suspected cases of H1N1,” she said.
For some of the substitutes on the list, there is an added challenge. Many schools have favorite substitutes, people they know and trust and bring back time after time.
“We have our favorite teachers, everything from those who have student-taught with us, who are retired teachers doing some subbing who know our school, and some that are just our regular routine subs,” said Reynolds, Jewell’s principal. “A lot of our teachers, if they know they’ll be gone, they’ll try to arrange for someone who is familiar with our school, our routines, our rules.”
Stephanie Cloninger, 62, said she’s not on those lists of substitutes the schools routinely use. A retired education assistant from Eugene who now lives in Bend, she’s available to work every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.
October was a good month for her: she got five assignments. But last year, from January through June, she didn’t get any jobs at all.
“I’m not in a situation where I have to work, which is really good,” Cloninger said. “Otherwise, I would have just had to go out and find something.”
After she didn’t get any work in September, Cloninger said she decided to be more proactive. She pursued one substitute position that had been posted online, and got the job.
“I’m doing different techniques and seeing if I can’t get some more work,” she said. “I’d love to be working.”
Sheila G.
Miller
can be reached at 541-617-7831 or at smiller@bendbulletin.com.
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