Craig Daily Press / District occasionally short on substitutes

June 13, 2008

• The Moffat County School District hosted a substitute teacher orientation Wednesday at the district administration building.

• The orientation was geared to prepare substitute teachers for the 2008-09 school year.

• Cindy Vorhies, School District personnel assistant, said the school district occasionally has difficulties finding substitute teachers.

• Substitute shortages are more prevalent at the high school level, she said.

• Vorhies said lower populated areas, such as Moffat County, usually have more difficulties securing substitutes than their urban counterparts.

This year, the Moffat County School District decided to start early.

District officials hosted a substitute orientation Wednesday at the district’s administration building. In past years, the orientations have taken place later in the summer, said Cindy Vorhies, Moffat County School District personnel assistant.

“We decided to change things up this year in hopes of having substitutes all ready to substitute in August,” she said.

The orientation was a means of preparing a pool of substitute teachers before the school year begins. District officials say the group of available substitute teachers isn’t always large enough to fill teacher absences throughout the year.

“I think we never have as many (substitutes) as we’d like,” Assistant Superintendent Joel Sheridan said, adding that the School District would ideally like to have between 75 and 100 substitutes on hand.

Currently, the district’s substitute teacher database includes 165 people, Vorhies said.

However, not all those substitutes are available throughout the school year.

Some substitutes are available only in the spring, Vorhies said, adding that others are available one day a week.

Classroom teachers aren’t the only positions where the School District needs temporary replacements. Bus drivers, secretaries, paraprofessionals and food servers also need substitutes throughout the year, Vorhies said.

Several factors come into play when considering the availability of substitute teachers.

“I have some substitutes that will only teach certain subjects,” Vorhies said, adding that other substitutes prefer to teach at specific schools through the district.

Finally, people who fill in for teachers require substitute licensure.

Those factors combined occasionally can create a shortage of substitutes, especially when special trainings take teachers out of the classrooms during school days.

“Sometimes, we scramble when we need 50” substitutes at one time, Vorhies said.

When that situation occurs, other school personnel, including secretaries and teachers in their planning periods, fill in for the class.

“There’s never a point where a class is not attended” by an adult, Vorhies said.

She believes setting can make a difference in the numbers of substitutes a school can attract.

In the “rural scene,” such as Moffat County, “the population isn’t that large for substitutes,” she said.

And, some school levels lack more stand-in teachers than others.

“There’s always a need for high school substitutes,” Vorhies said, adding that high school students’ ages can sometimes intimidate potential substitute teachers.

Substitutes entering the Moffat County School District must meet various requirements, including possessing a high school education and passing a background check.

“We do a background check on all substitutes when they come into the district,” Vorhies said.

The School District will begin taking applications for substitute teachers in August.

For more information about substitute teaching in the School District, call 824-3268.

Bridget Manley can be reached at 875-1795 or bmanley@craigdailypress.com.