IDAHO CITY, Idaho — Schools in the Basin School District in Idaho City reopened on Wednesday, after the district closed its schools on Tuesday. The closure was a result of a number of teachers out sick and not enough substitutes to cover.
“We have about 58 staff members and [Tuesday], we had nine staff members out,” Superintendent of the Basin School District Brian Hunicke said.
Hunicke told KTVB the district is having a tough time finding substitute teachers. Right now, for the entire district, there are only three full-time subs. There are also four additional substitutes who can only help on certain days.
On Tuesday, some of those subs were hunting or had other personal commitments and couldn't cover, according to Hunicke.
“Then we had a couple Special Ed teachers that had to go to a training and mandatory state training,” Hunicke said.
In a district with 340 kids, having that many people out is tough to fill.
“We're pretty thin,” Hunicke said. “[Wednesday], we have eight teachers out, but two subs came back, so we were able to backfill with those subs.”
The sick calls are not only impacting teachers, however.
“There's something going through, whether it's COVID, or if it's a flu or – something is hitting,” Hunicke said. “We had 22 students out today sick, so there's a little bit of a wave right now.”
So, the Basin School District needs the public's help.
“Come on in,” Hunicke said. “We'll train you up and put you in as a sub, it's not an easy job, but it's pretty rewarding.”
He adds, before the pandemic, the district had 11 or 12 subs, but they have now hired the majority of those subs to work full time in the district.
If you would like to substitute or volunteer sub, you can email bhunicke@basinschools.net or call the district at 208-392-6631. Passing a background check is required.
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