Substitute Teachers

A live look at huntsville city schools central office.

Tonight -- the district is trying to hire more substitute teachers... that's because the coronavirus pandemic is causing a teacher shortage in north alabama.

This comes after madison city schools announced it's delaying high school students' return to traditional classes because so many teachers are in quarantine - and there aren't enough substitutes to fill in.

Thanks for joining us tongiht -- i'm dan shaffer.

And i'm najahe sherman.

Waay 31's casey albritton joins us live at huntsville city school's central office... she learned why the district wants to hire more staff as well.

The district tells me it has about 240 substitute teachers--and that may seem like a lot-- but spokesperson craig williams said that's much less than previous years... and many of those teachers are in high demand erin frught/ teacher "i have received actually three phone calls today from three different schools that were looking for subs for this week and i had to turn them down because i'm already booked."

Substitute teacher erin frught says she's noticed there's a larger demand for substitute teachers this year.

Erin frught/ teacher "already being a shortage before the pandemic, then you're going to add the pandemic and you've got people who have conditions where they need to be careful, that's going to cause even more of a shortage."

Craig williams/ huntsville city schools "the covid pandemic has impacted staffing for substitutes not only for here in huntsville city schools, but also across the country as well.

People are more hesitant to be around other people and children."

Huntsville city schools isn't the only district experiencing the shortage... madison city schools sent this statement to us last friday, saying "school principals have reported difficulties in acquiring substitute teachers this year.

Our substitute teacher pool is very low compared to previous years.

Limestone county schools also struggled with the shortage--some students didn't have teachers for a few weeks into the school year.

Craig williams/ huntsville city schools "maybe they are subbing in other districts, maybe they are business owners, maybe their schedule does not permit subbing every single day.

Erin frught/ teacher "i'm autoimmune so i've always been concerned with who's got a runny nose and now that's heightened."

Huntsville city schools is working to hire more substitutes so they can avoid closing schools if several teachers get coroanvirus or have to quarantine.

Craig williams/ huntsville city schools "the more the better."

Frught says it's important to have teachers available.

Erin frught/ teacher "show them love and affection and teach them things and try to mold these people into good human beings...there's nothing better."

I did ask williams what the criteria is for temporarily closing a school-- he said there are three things the district looks at: staffing availability, the number of coronavirus cases, and the number of people quarantining at a school.

Live in huntsville, casey albritton, waay 31 news.

Thanks casey.

If you're interested in becoming a substitute teacher -- you can go to our website at waay-tv-dot-com to