NAVASOTA, Texas — The school system has been anything but normal. COVID-19 has caused several setbacks, including contributing to the ongoing nationwide substitute teacher shortage.
Sylvia Harrison, an art & music teacher at Burle Elementary School in Navasota said the job of a teacher is grueling enough, but add things like COVID-19 and it complicates things further.
"It's very hard because we need actual subs to come in and help out in these areas that we're hurting," Harrison said. "I mean, we always need subs."
Derek Bowman, who is director of personnel at Burle Elementary, said the nationwide substitute shortage is affecting Navasota Schools. Not only is it stressful to find staffing, it's causing teachers to be in a tough spot.
"They're worried about - they can't take time off to go to the doctor or take their kids to a dentist appointment and those routine appointments they need to make because they're worried about their classrooms being covered with the lack of substitutes," Bowman said. "We've had administrators from the district level to campus-level have to fill in for teachers just to make sure our classrooms are covered."
Last year in August, COVID-19 cases were at an all-time high. When they started to decrease, fewer teachers called out for work, which resulted in less work for substitutes. At the moment, there is still a surplus of substitutes, with work available maybe one or two times a week.
Kianna Coy, who works at a charter school, now has fewer hours. "I didn't want to give up on subbing because I am still needed," Coy said, despite the difficulty of getting enough hours. "Every sub is needed."
Bowman said the teacher shortage and the substitutes looking for work presents a complex problem. People are overworked, underworked and it can be overwhelming for everyone in all school districts.
Substitute teachers, current teachers, and staff say they are just pushing through the resilient school system because it's all for the kids at the end of the day.