Curry County may help fill teacher gaps

CLOVIS -- Teachers have forfeited their planning periods to fill in for teachers who are sick. Educational assistants are being pulled away from their typical assignments to oversee classrooms. Administrators and others are stepping in to help as well, in the classroom, on the playground, in the lunch room.

“An individual from our finance department taught P.E. last week,” Clovis Municipal Schools Superintendent Renee Russ said on Monday.

CMS, like most other school districts across the state and the nation, is trying to be creative in addressing teacher shortages, using all available resources while trying to maintain professional standards.

Now the district may be receiving reinforcements from an unlikely source – the Curry County government.

County Manager Lance Pyle last week reached out to school officials with an idea for adding to the stable of substitute teachers. Pyle is working with the county’s 150 employees so that those interested can work more hours in fewer days and be freed up to sub at CMS on Mondays or Fridays.

“We were floored by the offer,” Russ said.

In a memo issued Monday to the county’s department heads, Pyle wrote that “We have an opportunity at the County to step up like we have been known to do in the past and support CMS for the remainder of this school year.”

The memo stated the proposal was a “volunteer opportunity” for county employees to “stand in the gap for our kids.”

Pyle said he anticipates 10 to 15 county employees might participate.

The county volunteers, like all substitute teachers at CMS, would have to fill out an application, pass a background check and participate in training. The Public Education Department announced Tuesday it will temporarily waive a $44 fee it traditionally charges for background checks.

CMS pays substitutes with high school diplomas $95 per day, or $110 for those with a bachelor degree.

The reasons for teacher openings across the country are varied, ranging from pay to concerns about COVID-19.

Mandy Carpenter, CMS’ executive director of talent management and development, said the Clovis district has about 50 teacher openings with a pool of about 180 substitutes to call on. But subs are not obligated to work just because there’s a need on a specific day.

Many of the open teaching positions are being filled with substitutes on a regular basis. Then if a particular morning results in 20 teachers calling in sick, Carpenter said about 10 substitutes typically agree to fill in. That leaves 10 classes that have to be covered some other way, perhaps by doubling with other classes.

Carpenter said she’s hopeful county volunteers can increase the pool of available subs. And she’s optimistic other public entities or some of the area’s larger private businesses might be inspired to follow Curry County’s lead.

“If there are any other members of our community or businesses that would like to try what the county is doing, I would be happy to entertain those calls and work with them,” she said. “I hope maybe people will hear about this and they will be like, ‘Oh, we can help in that way too.’”

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