DeKalb County school districts coping with substitute shortage

DeKALB – As a permanent substitute teacher, the only thing consistent about Raechel Striedl’s days is that she spends them at DeKalb High School.

She could be an English, welding, science, and physical education teacher all in the same day, depending on which full-time teacher is absent. It’s not the ideal fit for Striedl, who graduated from Illinois State University in 2013 with a bachelor’s degree in communication education. But, it’s better than bouncing from building to building as she did last year.

“This is a nice way to get to know the teachers, the staff, the students,” Striedl said. “This way I’m not an unfamiliar face.”

The situation also benefits DeKalb School District 428, which has had problems finding substitute teachers to fill some of the 5,600 daily teacher absences it experiences throughout the year. Data from the district show it uses 47 substitutes a day.

District leaders recently approved a program that places 11 substitutes at specific schools. Meanwhile, other districts are trying other methods to cut down on how often they count on a shrinking pool of backup teachers.

Having substitute teachers who show up to one building every day isn’t unheard of, Human Resources Director Jim Bormann said, but it’s not universal. He was inspired to create the program after scanning the district’s teacher absences and ability to fill them. In cases where the district can’t find a substitute, other teachers or administrators have to fill the gap.

“I tried to see if there were any days when subs were not needed,” Bormann said. “The answer was no.”

District 428’s permanent substitutes earn $95 a day for the 168-day school year, a meager $15,960 annually. They don’t receive benefits because it’s technically not a full-time job as laid out by the Affordable Care Act. The position does have some perks, however.

“If you’re consistently a sub in the same building and you do a good job, you can bet you’re on our list to hire,” Bormann said.

Genoa-Kingston School District 424 also uses substitutes everyday, who are paid $85 a day, Superintendent Joe Burgess said. Many of them are regulars, which he said cuts down on students trying to waste the day.

The district has also tried to decrease the numbers of substitutes it uses by shortening the school day Wednesday to give teachers time to meet. Before last year, teachers would have to find subs once a month so they could meet and review data.

Employing building substitutes and switching up a school day doesn’t eliminate the need for backups. Normally, the teacher will submit their absence through a computer program, which then sends a notice to any substitute who fits the assignment. The first one to respond gets to teach that day.

School districts throughout DeKalb County compete for the 300 teachers in the DeKalb Regional Office of Education’s pool. Regional Superintendent Amanda Christensen expects to see a bump in the number of substitutes, or as she likes to call them, “guest teachers,” around December when some college students graduate. But she still expects the number to be down overall.

Last year, districts had 425 teachers to consider and the year before that there were 470 substitutes. Christensen would like to have 500.

To be part of the pool, the person has to at least have a bachelor's degree and a substitute teaching license and pass a background check. Christensen said the county's pool is a mixture of recently graduated students with teaching degrees, retired teachers and degree holders who didn't plan to teach.

She’s not sure why the number has been on the decline, especially in light of the number of under- or unemployed college graduates, but Christensen hopes new training sessions she’s planning can attract more and bolster the efficacy of those who do put their names in the pool.

“Substitutes need to be prepared and confident,” Christensen said. “They have to be able to be positive and give their expectations for what the day is going to be like immediately. They don’t have time to build those expectations.”

By the numbers

Number of available DeKalb County substitute teachers

2014-15: 307

2013-14: 425

2012-13: 470

Source: Regional Superintendent Amanda Christensen