Missouri to continue reimbursing substitute teachers in effort to fill shortage
COLUMBIA — Missouri is addressing the substitute teaching shortage exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic by offering reimbursement for hundreds of dollars of fees associated with training to be a substitute teacher and by temporarily making it easier for people to become substitute teachers.
These efforts were initially announced in October and recently the Governor's Office approved an extension of the reimbursement opportunity. The approval means money can continue coming from the state's Coronavirus Relieve Fund (CRF) to support prospective and current substitute teachers.
The need for substitute teachers has grown exponentially amid the ongoing pandemic.
At the onset of the pandemic, many schools across the state shut down, not because of widespread coronavirus outbreaks but because a number of staff members were getting exposed to the virus and there weren't enough substitute teachers to keep class in session.
In early November, the Moberly Public School District joined multiple schools and school districts in the area by deciding to shut down school buildings and return to virtual learning due to a substitute teacher shortage.
"As the increasing number of district staff in quarantine has exceeded the number of available substitutes, a district building closure will go into effect for all Moberly Public Schools beginning Tuesday, November 10, and will continue through Thanksgiving," the school district said in a letter to parents.
In the same week that Moberly Schools shut down, seven Columbia elementary school buildings had transitioned back to virtual learning due to staffing issues. These were short-term transitions and each school had a return to in-person date set.
In the time that followed, Columbia Public Schools traditioned between online, in-person, and hybrid learning until returning to in-person learning this month. And, as students prepared to return to class, some teachers expressed that they were concerned how the lack of substitute teachers may affect their own work.
In the case of an outbreak of COVID-19 or another sudden absence by another teacher, a shallow substitute pool may mean other in-district teachers could get called to fill in.
"During a regular year, that might happen to you once or twice in a year and we're all willing to help each other out," Kathy Steinhoff, president of the Columbia Missouri National Educators Association, said. "We're worried this could be a daily occurrence and it could be really hitting the same people over and over, and then when is it that they're able to do the job they were hired to do?"
To meet the need for substitute teachers, the state is offering a new alternative certification route that allows individuals with a high school diploma or its equivalent to complete a 20-hour online training to be eligible for a substitute certificate.
There's a $50 application fee and a $175 online training fee, both of which would be reimbursed using CRF funding. Anyone who paid the application fee between Nov. 5, 2020, and March 31, 2021, is eligible for reimbursement. Plus, anyone who paid for the online training fee between Nov. 5, 2020, and Feb. 28, 2021, is also eligible for reimbursement.
According to a Tuesday news release, there's no action required by the substitute teachers to be reimbursed; the payment method used to pay these fees will be automatically credited. The online training program, Frontline, will begin processing those reimbursements after Feb. 28, 2021.
This alternative option to becoming a substitute teacher is only temporary. The emergency rule that allows this alternative route was approved by the Missouri State Board of Education to address pandemic-related staffing shortages and it expires on Feb. 28.
The state is also covering another fee associated with being a substitute teacher.
There's a fee of $41.75 for a fingerprint background check for each local education agency (LEA) in which the substitute teacher intends to work. The news release said substitute teachers may sometimes pay this fee multiple times if they work in multiple LEAs. For these instances, CRF funding is available for LEAs that choose to reimburse substitute teachers working in their schools for the required background check fee.
The news release said individual must have completed their fingerprint background check between Nov. 5, 2020, and March 31, 2021. To access these CRF funds, the LEA must submit an application and a list of individuals to be reimbursed to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. The application is due by March 31, 2021.
