Filling vacancies
The Grapevine-Colleyville ISD board of trustees decided to close schools due to a shortage of substitutes on Jan. 19. Closing down Substitute needed Substitute position filled
Once candidates interview with the district, they are invited to an all-day training that prepares them for working as a substitute teacher. Becoming a substitute 1 Fill out an application online.
Grapevine-Colleyville ISD has been able to fill between 55% and 83% of substitute requests each month of the school year so far.
Vacant teaching position
Teaching position filled by a substitute
Vacancy rate
2,500
2 3
District officials review applications.
2,000
30%
45%
32%
Applicants are invited to interview in person with Grapevine- Colleyville ISD’s human resources department. Groups of 10-20 new hires get trained on classroom management, safety procedures and the teacher’s code of ethics. New hires get identification badges made, fill out paperwork and meet the school’s substitute contact. Substitutes can begin filling teacher vacancies.
31%
17%
18%
1,500
22%
4
1,000
21%
76
169
5
500
new cases of COVID-19 among students and staff members reported on Jan. 18 233
6
0
Sept.
2021 Oct.
Nov.
Dec.
Jan.
2022 Feb.
March*
Aug.
*AS OF MARCH 24 | SOURCE: GRAPEVINE-COLLEYVILLE ISD/COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
that are without a teacher, Padgett said. Often, students are divided up and other teachers add a few to their existing classes for the day. School staff have also stepped in to cover classes, she said. Before the district shut down campuses in January, Padgett said officials even put several classes that were without teachers in the cafeteria to be monitored by a handful of staff members. Grapevine Middle School Principal Laura Koehler said finding enough substitutes is often still a problem. On March 25, she said the school had 13 teachers out for the day, but staff was only able to find two substitutes. In that instance, Koehler said teach- ers helped decide how best to utilize the substitutes that they had on cam- pus, while shuffling around to cover any gaps during their off periods. Staffingup In October, the district’s board of trustees approved a pay rate increase for substitutes teachers of $15-$20 per “Right now, [the district] needs subs badly, It’s been so rewarding though. It’s worth it.”
day based on experience as well as rates for many auxiliary and parapro- fessional positions. The district usually hires around 150 new staff members each school year, and recruiting for positions that offi- cials expect will need to be filled for the 2022-23 school year has already begun, Padgett said. “Even though I anticipate more peo- ple will leave than normal, I am hope- ful that, with our recruiting efforts, we’re not going to have an issue,” Padgett said. She explained that some of the dis- trict’s student teachers will be brought on board as full-time staff members. Anddistrict representatives also attend local college job fairs to recruit. One issue the district did have earlier this year was finding sufficient staff for GCISD’s Early Childhood Develop-
months to 3 years, according to district documents. In February, the district considered closing one of the center’s classes due to a lack of adequate staffing, Padgett said. “Because the market outside of GCISD was paying a lot more for child care workers, our child care workers were leaving tomake a lot moremoney outside of the district,” Padgett said. The GCISD board approved an increase in the starting pay for the cen- ter’s staff at its Feb. 28 meeting. Pay rates increased from $13.50 per hour to $22 per hour, effective March 1. Padgett said that increase has helped with fill- ing staffing needs. “Because we were able to increase that pay for that group of people, it’s really made a difference,” she said. “And we’re going to be able to expand that benefit to [more of] our employees.” Becominga substitute Those interested in becoming a sub- stitute teacher must first apply for the role online, according to the district. Applicants are then invited to inter- view in person, Padgett said. “We want to know, ‘Why do you want to be a sub, and do you have any experience with children,’ just to gauge what kind of training this person is going to need,” she said. From there, Padgett said applicants go through a daylong training pro- gram, where they are taught classroom
CONTINUED FROM 1
highest the district has had since the pandemic began in March 2020. “When we came back that next week, we had just a huge amount of community support, [with many] people wanting to sub with us,” Padgett said. Following the January closure, churches, such as 121 Community Church in Grapevine, had parishioners and staff members volunteer to serve as substitutes, Padgett said. And sev- eral area firefighters also volunteered to serve as substitute teachers while off-duty, she said. Since then, the district’s pool of sub- stitutes has remained strong, Padgett said, putting the district in a better position than many others in the region, although data shows there is still a need in some situations. “I’m hoping that’s an upward trend, and we’re going to continue down that path,” Padgett said. Padgett said the district is currently staffed appropriately. “Sometimes we’ll need a specific kind of technology teacher, and that’s hard to find,” she said. “But [when] the school year starts, we’re usually right on target with everything we need.” Filling in When a substitute teacher is not available to cover a class, campus administration has discretion on how to take care of the students
ment Center, officials said. That facility pro- vides child care for employees’ children ranging in age from 2
LISA MCLAUGHLIN, A LONG- TERM SPECIAL EDUCATION SUBSTITUTE TEACHER
22
COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER • COMMUNITYIMPACT.COM
Powered by FlippingBook