TOLEDO, Ohio — COVID-19 has not only impacted how kids go to school, but also has impacted what the school needs on a daily basis.
Lori Berryman is the human resources director at Washington Local Schools. She says as the district prepares to return to in-person learning, it needs substitute teachers.
"We are seeing ourselves in a need for substitutes at a higher level than what we have experienced in the past," Berryman said.
Washington Local isn't alone. Perrysburg Schools Superintendent, Tom Hosler, says his district is in the same situation.
"Where we really took a hit was a lot of retired folks will sub because it's a nice day and you can pick your own schedule," Hosler said. "But, what we found are some of those folks are saying the risk is too high, don't want to be exposed, don't want to get it."
In a normal year, substitutes would usually cover for one or two days.
Now, if a teacher is out because of COVID-19, a substitute has to cover for at least 14 days.
"That's one of the things we worry about. If we had a situation in one building where we had eleven teachers in one building go out, that would be really challenging for us to staff that for that long and it could be very disruptive," Hosler said.
Skill sets during this time have changed too. Substitutes need more experience with technology and must be able to adapt to different learning environments.
If you're interesting in becoming a substitute teacher in one of our area school districts, a list of districts hiring right now are below: