app County Schools implements new approach to securing substitute teachers
app County Schools is enhancing its substitute teacher system to provide more perks for the people who serve as substitute teachers and ensure that lessons and activities continue even when the classroom teacher is absent.
The school district is partnering with ESS, a leading education personnel and management company, to oversee daily and long-term substitute teachers as well as substitute support staff, effective July 1. ESS will be responsible for recruiting, screening, hiring, training, and placing individuals who wish to serve as a substitute in app County Schools.
Beth Suber, executive director of human resources for app County Schools, believes the partnership will improve the school district’s ability to secure substitutes. According to Suber, the district’s current fill rate is about 85 percent; ESS has a typical fill rate of 95 percent.
“It has become increasingly difficult for school leaders to secure substitute teachers, especially when a teacher’s absence is unexpected or when there are a number of teachers absent on the same day – this creates undue stress on the school environment,” explained Suber. “Through our partnership with ESS, we will be able to manage our substitute teacher process better, be more efficient in securing substitutes, and increase the number of substitutes that are available to us on any given day.”
All current/active substitutes in app County Schools will transition to being employees of ESS. Once that happens, the substitutes will be paid weekly, be eligible for health benefits and incentives/bonuses, and be able to work a full week – this is especially important to substitutes who are retired teachers. If a substitute is a retiree, the person is limited in the number of hours he/she can work per week because he/she is a retired state employee. Being an employee of ESS is separate from being a state employee, thus allowing retirees to work 40 hours per week.
Suber added, “It is important to have a caring, knowledgeable, and responsible adult at the front of every classroom every day. Even when the teacher is absent, a substitute can step in and be there to ensure that students stay on task with activities that contribute to their learning and well-being. ESS has a proven record of providing substitutes at a high level, which will contribute significantly to our priority of maintaining a structured environment in our schools that is conducive for learning.”
According to ESS, serving as a substitute is ideal for retired teachers who want to stay connected to the classroom, college students or recent college graduates who would like to “test the water” before taking a full-time teaching position, and others who want to make a positive contribution to students’ education. Working as a substitute offers a flexible schedule – using the ESS online system, a substitute chooses when he/she wants to work, where, and how often.
QUESTION-AND-ANSWER SESSION: A question-and-answer session will be held on Monday, June 16 at 9:00 a.m. at Stuart W. Cramer High School, 101 Lakewood Road, Belmont, for anyone wanting to become a substitute or ask questions about working for ESS. The session also will be made available virtually. For more information, contact ESS at (877) 983-2244 or call the app County Schools Human Resources Department, (704) 866-6129.
ESS is a national organization that has proven itself as a leader in providing personnel management for K-12 education. Each day, the company fills more than 35,000 daily, long-term, and permanent work assignments for more than 900 school districts.