Help wanted (and needed) for subs in Kern County

Jan. 29—Significant improvement has been made since the coronavirus pandemic devastated Kern County schools' inventory of substitute teachers. Even so, subs remain in short supply at several local school districts.

Overall, there are far more candidates in the countywide pool than there were at the height of the pandemic and even before the pandemic, said Robert Meszaros, director of communications for Kern County Superintendent of Schools.

Kern County entered the fall of 2019 with 2,026 substitute teachers and that number dropped 41 percent the following year to 1,191 before dipping even lower in the fall of '21 with 1,105 subs, according to KCSOS, which handles the county subs pool.

The tally shot up to 2,150 in January of last year, and last week it stood at 2,779.

"During COVID we had our shortage," said Dave Boyt, KHSD's human resources director. "We started actively recruiting. Since then we haven't had a shortage of subs."

Kern High School District is stocked with 678 active subs, Boyt noted.

Meanwhile, the count is significantly lower for Bakersfield City and Greenfield school districts.

There are roughly 500 substitute teachers at BCSD. Of those, about half actively substitute in district classrooms, spokeswoman Tabatha Mills said in an email.

"There is generally always a need," BCSD said in a statement. "Many of our substitute teachers are in the process of clearing their credentials and once they have done so, they are usually hired by the district, which creates a natural vacancy that is filled by the next soon-to-be teacher."

There are 275 active certificated substitutes with Greenfield, the district said.

"Greenfield, like many districts, is always hiring substitutes as the demand increases throughout the year as teachers access statutory leaves," Greenfield said in a statement. "However, in the last several years the demand is high all year and there has been a shortage."

"In short, yes, we continue to have a demand for substitutes, however, our fill rates have been much higher during the current school year as opposed to the two previous years."

Permanent teachers and classified substitutes are needed in the Panama-Buena Vista Unified School District, said Darryl Johnson, assistant superintendent of human resources for PBVUSD. There are 280 active subs in the district, he said in an email.

Prior to COVID, PBVUSD had a teacher sub pool of approximately 300-plus. During the pandemic and school shutdowns, its sub pool dropped to about 100 to 130, he said.

PBVUSD will have its fifth annual Casting Call that features recruitment and on-site interviews for various job openings from 4 to 7 p.m.Feb. 8 at Thompson Junior High, 4200 Planz Road. Applying for job openings can be done prior to the event online at www.pbvusd.info/apply or call Human Resources at 661-831-8331, extension 6353, for additional information.

The 23rd annual Kern County Teacher Recruitment Fair, sponsored by KCSOS, is scheduled to run from 8 a.m. to noonFeb. 4 at the Larry E. Reider Education Center, 2000 K St. The event is the county's largest gathering of school district recruiters in one location. Pre-registration is available online until Feb. 1 at https://trf.kern.org.

Pay for subs varies across school districts. For KHSD, a long-term sub is paid $54 per hour after 15 days. A typical substitute teacher with a 30-day permit without a credential and with a bachelor's degree or higher is paid $35 an hour. A credentialed sub is paid $38 per hour.

Not only does the need for subs depend on the district, it also varies by subject matter.

At KHSD, which this month was able to fill vacancies for 215 teachers and 186 substitutes, administration recently prepared its subs with a three-hour course and paid each attendee to listen to a lecture titled "Conscious Classroom Management: Bringing out the best in teachers and students."

Will Sandoval, the district's assistant superintendent of human resources, thanked the substitutes who attended the class.

"These are the bravest individuals in our high school district," he said. "because you come in every day not knowing what you're getting yourselves into, not necessarily knowing if the lesson plans are going to be there, how the kids are going to react or that sort of thing."

School districts across California have struggled to find enough substitute teachers for absent teachers since the coronavirus pandemic, according to a recent EdSource story published last week. Since then, many of those subs found jobs elsewhere.

Kern County districts are hoping more subs sign up for work.

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