Platte County, along with many other school districts nationwide, is facing a substitute teacher shortage. As a result, regular teachers have been required to forfeit their free periods to cover another class. While teachers do get compensated extra for being an acting substitute, it’s been putting more stress on them by having them manage a class that’s not even theirs, when they have assignments and/or tests that need to be graded in their regular classes.
“We do have to do a staff rotation because we have to have teachers in the class [with students],” Principal Kiel Giese said, “[Be]cause what you can’t do is shut down a classroom, because you have 25-30 students [that you can’t distribute].”
The process of finding substitute teachers is relatively straightforward. Teachers submit an absence through an app called Frontline, and then subs can pick up any absences they want.
“[The sub shortage] causes a lot of frustration and extra work for our teachers,” Administrative Assistant Heather Fuehrer said. “They have to fill in during their planning time, which often is their only hour of the day to get any extra work or grading done.”
This is not just a problem with Platte County. It follows general trends in the U.S., 77% of school district leaders reported a “considerable level of substitute staffing shortages” according to Edustaff.
“In the past little bit of time, more people have been applying [for the substitute positions] at the district level, going throughout the year,” Giese said.
Working at Platte County offers numerous benefits that surpass those of other schools nationwide. While the median wage is $17.97 an hour, Platte County can range from $19.62 to $35 for retired teachers. There are also other benefits, like getting a free lunch ticket, and for Lenora Miles, substitute and retired Platte County teacher, it’s being with the students.
“It’s good to get to know the kids. It’s fun because a lot of the kids are the kids of former students,” Miles said. “I learned after 48 years of teaching, I took about a six-month break where I worked around, and then I realized, ‘I really need to be around students’. That’s what makes me happy.”
