No substitute for good help

KELLOGG — Kellogg School District Superintendent Lance Pearson reported earlier this week that Pinehurst Elementary School is currently experiencing what he calls an “all hands on deck” effort as COVID gains a foothold among staff, rendering the school with more teacher vacancies than available substitutes.

Kellogg is also facing high COVID numbers at the high school level as they announced earlier this week that due to an increase in positive cases, many teachers are opting to work remotely today during their scheduled teacher workday.

Pearson said even with the heightened numbers at the high school, they have managed to fill holes in the classrooms for now.

“Not all of our schools are seeing a shortage of substitute teachers, as it tends to be isolated incidents when COVID gets a foothold in a school and we see 25-30% of our teachers out,” Pearson said. “Kellogg Middle School had a period this fall during which they were short on substitutes for the same reason.”

The surge appears to have skipped over the middle school this time however, as Pearson reported that as of Wednesday morning, there were no teachers absent due to illness.

Pearson said his goal, as always, is to keep kids in school and that with the sub shortage, school staff are making adjustments to fill the holes as the storm passes.

“We are able to pull back some ancillary programs and just make sure we have qualified people in all our classrooms when our staff numbers get decimated by COVID,” he said. “It is truly amazing to see the way teachers, paraprofessionals, substitutes, administrative assistants and principals all step up and do what it takes to keep our kids in school. We are seeing and hearing reports of school districts having to move to remote learning due to a high number of staff out sick due to COVID infections. Remote learning is not ideal and we are working hard to avoid it. As a district, we want our kids in school and school to be as close to normal as we can make it.”

Pearson said that because substitute teaching is a position with “often difficult and sporadic work,” finding subs has been a continual struggle.

“The lack of consistency is difficult for some people's schedules and financial needs and that is understandable. We always need good subs that can come in at a moment's notice. You might get called for five straight days because there is a high number of staff out for COVID, and then nothing for two weeks.”

He continued by saying that expanding the substitute list is always something the district is looking to do and can be an incredibly rewarding experience for those who put themselves out there to help the children in their community.

“In general, we need subs. We have nothing but the utmost respect for all of our substitute teachers,” Pearson said.

Both Wallace and Mullan school districts have been battling low substitute teacher numbers throughout the school year and have reported similar struggles when COVID numbers rise.

Wallace School District Superintendent Todd Howard said that while Wallace schools currently have close to 15-20% of their staff out, it is linked to combination of things rather than the singular COVID issue that Kellogg is facing.

“It’s COVID, but also random illness, scheduled surgeries and just life in general, but unfortunately when you take the normal things and you stack onto it, our numbers get to the point where we just aren’t able to fulfill every spot, because right now our sub list is much shorter than its been in the past.”

For those interested in applying to become a substitute teacher in the Kellogg School District, please visit www.kelloggschools.org/home/jobs/substitutes.

For those interested in applying for the Wallace School District, please contact the district office at 208-753-4515.

For those wanting to help in Mullan, please contact Kathy Anderson at 208-744-1118 or Ashley Elliot at 208-744-1126.