At the beginning of the school year, the Greene County School District was facing an immediate challenge of staff shortages due to illnesses.

Superintendent Tim Christensen happily reports that no classes have been cancelled because there weren’t instructors or substitute teachers in the classroom. However, when a staff member is gone, Christensen says other teachers and staff try to fill those holes, along with trying to find substitutes.

“When teachers continue to take personal days they have cold and flu, and have kids that are sick, so teachers miss, I mean that’s just a fact of life. But our substitute pool, due to people not wanting to sub as much with concerns about COVID and those things, we’ve got a depleted pool of substitutes that really (I) would like people to give consideration to substitute teacher, substitute associate, substitute cook. We need people to fill those positions.”

Christensen says substitute pay is now $135 per day and the requirements to get a substitute authorization includes either having an associates degree or completing 60 hours of post-secondary education and take the online authorization course. Contact the district office at 515-386-4168 to learn more about being a substitute.