Short on subs
Hamilton Southeastern Schools struggle to find substitute teachers
O
ver the past two years, Hamilton Southeastern Schools has experienced a substitute teacher shortage that has only been magnified by the pandemic. Out of the 11 permanent substitute positions that Fishers has available, only five of the positions are currently filled. The shortage has caused problems with finding teachers to watch classes and, in some cases, a place for the class to go when there are no teachers. “We will look at putting signs on the door and sending those classes to a common space,” Assistant Principal Steve Loser said. “[Classes are sent] to the CCA often, sometimes a study hall, if there is space in the study hall to do that, and if it gets way out of control, we have used the auditorium.” For Kari Goldstein, the substitute coordinator at FHS, figuring out where to put classes when there are not enough substitutes is something that she enjoys. “It’s great; you contact your coworkers that have prep periods and you ask them if they could fill in,” Goldstein said. “If they can, then that’s great, they’ll cover the class for you. If they can’t, then you figure out another option.”
Abby Miller Sending classes to a common space like the CCA may be a solution, but the CCA does not have the same feel as a traditional classroom environment. For Asmaa Farooqi, who works in the CCA, keeping classes on task can be challenging. “If it is AP classes, I feel like they like to sit down and they are more serious about their education; they are ready to graduate,” Farooqi said. “If it is a freshman or sophomore class, they are not there yet, maturity-wise. Either they are talking or not willing to do the assignment.” According to Farooqi, there are at least one to two classes that are in the CCA every day. For Farooqi, the job of keeping students on task can be stressful. “I like to say that each job has its own challenges,” Farooqi said. “There is no job that is a piece of cake. Yes, it is stressful and it is hard to manage sometimes, but it is all about communication between you and the student.” Although it is not ideal, some students, like sophomore Zachary Thomas, are able to get assignments done in the CCA without distraction. “I thought it was fine because I kind of just do my work on my own anyways,” Thomas said. “I think we [the class] were all
milleabi002@hsestudents.org doing our work.” According to Loser, the COVID-19 pandemic affected substitute teachers. Many substitutes who were not permanent substitutes at Fishers did not have a job when schools shut down as a result of the pandemic. “People, to make money as a sub, a general sub, across central Indiana, they would find someplace else to go,” Loser said. “Sometimes maybe that person is gone and works somewhere and they are actually recruited as a permanent sub, and so then we have lost them as a sub in our general pool.” While some substitutes lost their jobs because of the shut-down, others chose not to come back for personal reasons. According to Goldstein, some substitutes did not come back because they had health concerns. “A lot of people are older, and they are scared of getting sick,” Goldstein said. “There’s people that want to get vaccinated and there’s people that don’t want to be vaccinated, and if there’s a sub that’s vaccinated and doesn’t want to come in and be around people that aren’t vaccinated, then they’re not going to sub.”
On Nov. 3, PE and health teacher Darren Simms’ eighth period class studies in the CCA due to the sub shortage. Photo by Abby Miller.
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Tiger Times
November 2021
