Districts scramble to ensure enough substitute teachers are on hand

Medical emergencies and a large number of teachers taking springtime personal days can make it a scramble to find substitutes, local school officials say.

Substitutes have been at a premium recently, Minster Local School Superintendent Brenda Boeke said.

"There have been occasions when it has been hard to find a substitute for a class," Boeke said.

Sue Cook of Mercer County Educational Services Center said the county has about 180 substitutes but many of those are on similar lists elsewhere.

"They teach in Mercer, Auglaize, Darke, Van Wert and Allen counties. They teach in a wide range. Some of them I can never schedule because they are always in another county," she said.

Teachers can call a substitute hotline when necessary. Cook then makes necessary calls and emails the school when a substitute is found.

"There have been days when there have been no subs for a class," she said.

She expects more such days this year.

"Teachers tend to use more days in the months of April and May because they still have personal days to use. They have to use them or lose them," she said.

St. Marys Middle School will shift substitutes from planning periods into classrooms without a teacher, principal Mary Miller said.

Emergency situations such as teachers needing to leave because their children were injured are especially challenging, she said. An illness spreading through the building can also make it difficult to get enough substitutes, she said.

"It's hard to find someone at 10 o'clock in the morning," she said.

As the year winds down finding substitutes also becomes more challenging, she said.

"Sometimes substitutes find jobs or we tie subs down with longer-term positions such as maternity leave. That can make it hard to find one available," Miller said.

Having staff or other substitutes fill in for a class happens occasionally, Miller said.

Teachers can use their planning periods to cover a class, New Bremen Elementary Principal Diane Kramer said. She can also fill in when necessary.

"It has happened a few times but not often this year," she said.

Fort Recovery Local Schools is the only Mercer County district not using Mercer County ESC for substitutes, Cook said.

Auglaize County Educational Services Center has 155 substitutes serving New Bremen, Minster and Waynesfield-Goshen Local Schools and New Knoxville School, the ESC's Jen Korte said. St. Marys City Schools and Wapakoneta City Schools hire their own substitutes, she said.

Hiring substitutes can be costly.    St. Marys City Schools pays $85 a day while New Bremen Local Schools pays $84 a day. Fort Recovery Local Schools pays $80 a day and increases that to $90 after 10 straight days in the same classroom, treasurer Lori Koch said.

Parkway Local Schools pays $80 per day, $85 a day for 11-20 consecutive days and $90 a day for 21-60 consecutive days.

Coldwater Exempted Village Schools pays $80 per day. Treasurer Michelle Mawer said after 60 consecutive days in the same room, substitutes are considered a full-time teacher.

Marion Local Schools pays $80 per day up to 10 consecutive days and $95 for 11-60 consecutive days.

St. Henry Consolidated Local Schools pays $80 a day up to five consecutive days. After the fifth day, the district pays $85 a day.

Celina City Schools pays $75 a day for the first 10 days. After the 10th day the pay increases to $85 a day.

"It just has to be 10 days. They can be half days and they do not need to be consecutive," assistant treasurer Scott Braun said.

Minster Local Schools pays $80 a day, and $90 per day after 30 consecutive days.

Ohio laws says that after 60 consecutive days in the same room or position, substitutes have earned sick leave, visiting days and other benefits granted to regular teachers including pay that is no less than the district's minimum salary.

In Ohio, substitutes must have a 1-year or 5-year teaching license, submit a transcript and undergo a background check.

A short-term license for up to five days can be issued to someone with a bachelor's degree.

A long-term license requires a bachelor's degree and 12-20 completed semester hours in requested subjects.