Jerry Thompson retired in 2016 after 35 years teaching at Tiskilwa High School and Princeton Logan Junior High School. He’s kept active substituting back at Logan, as well as Princeton High School and at Ohio, the past three years.
This year, he’s opted to stay home. Thompson, 62, a two-time cancer survivor, is being cautious in the midst of the coronavirus
“I’ve had cancer twice and I’m pretty leery. That played a big role in not wanting to go back in to it,” he said.
Thompson is unsure if he’ll return to subbing, but joked that he may have to with his wife, Jill, retiring, “because she’ll find jobs for me to do at home.”
Area school administrators say the shortage of substitute teachers in the area has been an ongoing concern for years, though the pandemic has compounded the issue.
Bureau Valley School employs seven external subs, principal Duane Price said, though their list of subs hasn’t changed all that much from last year to this year.
“We’ve had a few days when full staffing was thin, but we’ve weathered the storm thanks in large part to the versatility of teachers using Google Meet to teach remotely in real time, the flexibility of our staff to fill in whenever and wherever needed, and the dedication of our external substitutes,” Price said.
Princeton High School has employed three to four out-of-building subs, assistant principal Jeff Ohlson said, and its teachers and staff have filled a lot of requests or needs.
“For the most part, we have been able to handle the ebbs and flows that this unique situation has presented in regards to staffing needs. We handle each situation as it presents, evaluate our resources and make the best decision for our students and staff,” he said. “We have a great staff, who works well together and they have been and continue to be willing to step up and fill in when they have been asked to help out.”
Ohio schools have hired a full-time substitute teacher that principal Jason Wilt said has helped tremendously. They have only used three out-of-building substitutes, he said, and are trying to fill substitute positions internally as much as possible.
“Finding substitute teachers has been more challenging than in years past. However, with our small size and with the staff working extremely hard to create a school and individual bubble that limits interaction with individuals outside of their classrooms and households, we have been able to minimize the need for substitutes,” he said.
Superintendent Mike Patterson said Malden Grade School has employed two external subs to cover their needs this year.
“We have been fortunate that required teacher quarantines have been spread out and we have not had much trouble covering the need,” he said. “During this pandemic, we have continuously been in the planning stage for the scenario where we are short substitute teachers and Malden has a variety of remedies if this would occur.”