The Chapel Hill-Carrboro City School system has recently faced a shortage of substitute teachers and is looking for more substitutes to operate the schools in the district without undue complications.
The problem became noticeable by many of the staff and teachers in the district at the beginning of this year, when the district reassessed the number of active substitutes.
Of the 350 substitutes in the district, only about 90 were actively seeking to substitute at the different schools this year, according to Sherri Morris of human resources.
In order for substitutes to remain on the active list, individuals must substitute a minimum of ten times per school year.
The district reached out to the staff and parents to spread the message that the district is in search of new substitute teachers.
“We are seeking candidates who are 18 years of age or over, with a high school diploma or equivalent and 60+ hours of college credit,” Morris wrote in an email to staff and parents.
A flyer was shared in the email and provided a website to which people to send their applications.
Substitutes are needed every day by the schools in the district.
“We simply cannot operate without them,” Morris stated.
The number of substitutes needed daily can vary greatly, but, during the months of August, September and October, an average of 40 substitutes was needed to fill teaching assignments each day. On some days, at least 80 substitutes were needed, Morris said.
“Our goal is to have more substitute teachers than needed, since not all subs are available to work every day,” Morris said.
The district received over 25 emails and or phone calls as a result of the substitute recruitment email and flyer.
Gayathri Balasubramanian has been working in the district as a substitute for one year.
“As of late, I tend to see a lot of shortages in substitutes,” Balasubramanian said. “I try to pitch in my best to help my co-ordinator to cover the shortage of teachers as much as I can by taking up all periods.”
Myles Atiken substituted part time from 2017 to 2019 and also noticed the shortage of substitutes in the district.
“When substitutes take on a job, they follow their assigned teacher’s schedule,” Atiken said. “Subbing for a typical Chapel Hill High School teacher requires you to see students for five periods and then have two periods ‘off’ for planning.”
Like Balasubramanian, when substituting, Atiken was asked to cover other classes during the two planning periods. Many substitutes will work all seven periods of the day without a break.
Saundra Dockery has been a substitute at Chapel Hill High School for five years and recently noticed she was getting more requests for subbing positions than normal.
“I substitute about 3 to 4 times a week,” Dockery said. “I enjoy substituting at Chapel Hill High because the teachers and staff are really nice and leave good lesson plans, and the students are very respectful.”
Permanent Chapel Hill High School substitute Charles Webb said one of the reasons for the shortage of substitutes was low pay for both certified and non-certified substitutes.
A substitute teacher who holds a teaching license is paid $111.00 per day, and approved substitutes not holding a teaching license are paid $90.00 per day.
“Substitutes are paid poorly compared to other districts,” Webb said. “The district does not seem to value the substitutes, and it shows in their pay.”
Webb believes the shortages are also due to the district looking for mostly certified substitute teachers. Professional development meetings also take out many teachers from specific departments throughout the district.
“Since substitutes are volunteers, they are not available every day. They also get to choose where they want to substitute, and we see more volunteers opting to work at the elementary schools,” Webb said. “We also see fewer people volunteering to substitute on Mondays and Fridays.”
The Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools will continue to look to interview and hire new substitute teachers until there are enough active substitutes.
