One of the lasting effects of the COVID-19 pandemic will be an additional option to qualify as a substitute teacher.
The State Board of Education temporarily provided the new option during 2020, when schools faced a larger than normal deficit in subs.
Instead of completing 60 college credit hours, people needed a high school diploma or equivalent and to complete a 20-hour, state-approved, online training program.
While that expired in February, the State Board of Education recently passed an amendment to make it a permanent option starting at the end of December.
The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education is working with a vendor for the training with the goal of opening it up in the fall so people could get a head start on the training.
When the temporary ruling passed last August, Dr. Scott Dill, Poplar Bluff R-I superintendent, said it helped keep the district’s door open.
Overall, Missouri faces a teacher shortage, which also applies to substitutes, he said then. By expanding options, more people could step up when the district needed it.
Dill said he’s pleased to see the temporary option become a permanent one.
The district had “a few people” use that option.
From talking to other administrators across the state, Dill said, the R-I school district is in the same boat as many other districts.
“(The training) was so focused and so intentional in setting them up for success as teachers, that we were really pleased with the quality of candidates we realized from this law,” Dill said. “I think it’s a very wise decision by the state board and we are very appreciative this is going to go back into effect.”
For several years, the district has worked on growing the number of substitutes it has, he said, and last December the school board approved raising substitute pay from $70 a day to $90. Former teachers who return as substitutes make $100 a day.
“I think people were very appreciative of that and we’re happy to do that,” Dill said. “This is another one of those areas where the job is so important to the day-to-day work in the school district and it’s difficult to find people that are willing to take that on at times.”