District office workers filling in as substitutes in St. Johns County

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – As the St. Johns County School District struggles to capable substitute teacher positions, employees from the territory bureau person been asked to measurement into classrooms to regenerate teachers who whitethorn beryllium retired sick oregon quarantining.

A territory spokeswoman told News4Jax connected Tuesday that astir six territory employees who are certified teachers are filling successful arsenic substitute teachers astatine region schools each time but added that it’s not uncommon to person territory unit enactment schools astatine the opening of the twelvemonth oregon different times erstwhile needed.

But the territory is inactive making a propulsion to prosecute much substitutes for each people levels to capable the voids.

Angie Filipsic has worked arsenic a substitute successful the territory for 9 years, but she has not signed up to sub this twelvemonth for a big of reasons, including debased pay, the existent disguise requirements and what she said is simply a deficiency of grooming for the challenges of teaching during the pandemic.

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“I was going to [substitute teach] this year. I deliberation we each were benignant of hoping that this twelvemonth was going to beryllium better, that possibly things were going to beryllium backmost to normal. But for maine close now, it’s inactive not worthy the risk. And I just, I don’t privation to. The wealth is not there. There’s not the incentive,” Filipsic said.

St. Johns County substitute teachers are paid $15 an hour.

“Why americium I going to substitute, making 15 bucks an hr erstwhile I person a assemblage grade and I could enactment astatine Buc-ee’s for $17 an hour?” Filipsic said, adding that she besides doesn’t privation to deterioration a disguise for 8 hours a day.

As of Monday, determination were 89 territory employees who tested affirmative for COVID-19 and 50 who were successful quarantine.

The mean fig of vacancies successful the territory is astir 80, which includes paraprofessionals, subordinate teachers and teachers, with immoderate of the vacancies coming owed to growth, the territory said.

“We are precise aggressively trying to enlistee and to get large radical into the system, arsenic we get larger and arsenic we determination forward,” Superintendent Tim Forson said during a schoolhouse committee gathering past week.

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The territory said it is averaging 200 subs moving each time and 350 radical person worked astatine slightest 1 time arsenic a substitute since the schoolhouse twelvemonth started. The territory does person a excavation of implicit 700 subs to propulsion from, with 100 hired successful the past week, but the jobs are voluntary.

The caput of the St. Johns County teachers national said the vacancies make issues for different teachers successful the schools.

“The sub shortage is having an unthinkable interaction connected our teachers and our enactment staff, arsenic well. When we can’t find a sub, determination is simply a trickle-down effect and different teachers are being asked present to screen for that vacancy successful the classroom,” said Michelle Dillon, St. Johns Education Association president. “I cognize we each transportation in, successful an exigency situation, you cannot person an unsupervised classroom. But astatine the aforesaid time, these teachers are losing their invaluable readying time. It is an added accent connected them.”

Starting Thursday, the territory is opening up for sub applicants for a six-day window. For much information, visit the territory website.

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