BOISE, Idaho — Schools across Idaho continue to battle staffing shortages; shortages made more complicated in recent years by the COVID pandemic and increased politics surrounding schools.
“When COVID hit us, a lot of the districts really had a struggle with trying to find substitutes, and so, what we did initially was we increased our sub pay,” said Craig Woods, Superintendent of the Emmett School District
Woods, like other superintendents, has gotten creative in recent weeks and months to solve the staffing problem and promote substitute opportunities.
“We've all kind of tried to be competitive with the sub pay. And one of the things that, I think I heard it at a superintendent conference that I was at, that there are some unique things that they were doing is to incentivize and have subs that are consistently there for you, have an opportunity for some kind of reward. And that's kind of what we put together this year in Emmett,” Woods said.
This week Emmett Schools highlighted their new incentive program for substitutes. If a substitute works ten or more days during a pay period, their name will be entered into a drawing for an additional day of pay. If the substitute works 15 or more days within a pay period, their name will be entered into the drawing twice.
“That's kind of just an incentive too, because we have some great substitutes and they're so important and especially when we can plan them out ahead of time. It's really nice to reward those ones that really want to help us out,” Woods said.
Emmett is not alone. Schools around the state continue to see staffing and substitute challenges.
The State Board of Education did an informal survey back in May and school districts showed there were as many as 900 vacancies statewide. A follow-up survey indicated that the number of vacancies for certified teacher positions across the state dropped to 134 since the start of the school year.
Of the 134 vacant positions, 68% are in Special Education, 52% are in Math and 35% are in science. The State Board of Education says many of the vacant positions are being filled by people with little or no education experience or training.
“Any given day there is at least five or six positions within our district that go unfilled, that are calling out for substitutes. And we just don't get enough people coming in that are willing to help us out,” said Middleton School District Superintendent, Marc Gee.
Gee says pay for substitutes is on the rise as the district seeks new subs. The district announced that substitutes, regardless of certification or position being filled, will be paid $110 a day.
“It was a little bit lower previously. We just felt like we needed to see what we could do to get more people interested in subbing for us. And that was one way that we thought we could approach it,” Gee said.
There are also additional incentives for subs that commit to filling in for extended periods of time.
Substitute incentives are also a tool in Idaho’s largest school district, West Ada. The district told KTVB, this year has been much more normal with substitutes, unlike the previous few years. Still, they do utilize an incentive program, where substitutes who sub in a class for ten days in a month receive an additional $100 dollars bonus, and substitutes who serve for 15 days in a month receive another $100 bonus after that; $200 in total. That program has been in place for over three years, West Ada says.
Across Idaho, the reality for schools is that the staffing world is competitive.
“It is, we all kind of watch each other. I know what Boise school district is paying their subs. And so we want to be as competitive with Boise, West Ada across the board. But you have to kind of be that way unless you drive around town and you see what the marquee signs that say we're paying, you know, $15 an hour starting wage. Well, as a school district, we can't compete unless we're right there with it,” Woods said.
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