Schools continue preparations to safely reopen in the fall, but may face another hurdle; a shortage of substitute teachers.
There’s a new spotlight on northern Michigan’s substitute teacher shortage as schools discuss their reopening plans for the fall.
Its likely schools will need more subs, but finding them may be even harder than before.
“In the wake of COVID, coming back to the fall it’s not a stretch to imagine some substitute teachers will not want to enter our classrooms, because they’re fearful of getting sick or they might have a loved one or family member who’s already compromised,” said Marion Superintendent Chris Arrington.
That creates even more hurdles for districts already facing a tidal wave of unknowns.
“Number one it compromises the education of students of all ages. Good subs are hard to find as it is and when there is a sub shortage, the districts and school buildings are forced to take the existing teaching staff and give up prep hours, take on additional classrooms,” said Arrington.
The Michigan Education Association says that opens the door to serious problems.
“When those teachers that do go back get sick, it’s going to be hard to find a sub that will want to go into a classroom in a pandemic. They will be very hesitant and we’re very concerned about this crisis in both regular classroom teachers and substitute teachers,” said MEA Spokesman David Crim.
But schools like Marion say there’s no easy solution.
“For us we’re going to continue to reach out to our trusted network that we’ve developed the last year and see what their thoughts are about coming back. We’re a small district and if one or two of those folks are not choosing to come back for whatever reason in the fall, then we need to get busy and try to recruit,” said Arrington.
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