October 27, 2021 3:40 a.m.

Douglas Education Service District has partnered with a national third-party employer to staff licensed classified teacher substitutes in an attempt to attract additional substitute teachers for schools in Douglas County.

ESD Communications Specialist Heather Villa said the relationship with EDUStaff LLC, begins on November 1st and is for the 13 component school districts in the area.

Villa said EDUStaff will market the substitute program, recruit new substitutes and hire substitutes.

Villa said normally in Douglas County, there are 300 substitute teachers contracted at any given time. She said many subs however, have chosen not to teach during the pandemic. Villa said there is normally a high turnover rate because many substitutes get hired on directly with schools. Villa said ESD has heard that there are a few people who have decided not to substitute teach, due to the vaccine requirement, contributing further to the shortage.

The Teacher Standards and Practices Commission has created a new emergency substitute teaching license this month to help alleviate shortages. This is a temporary licensure and will be effective until the end of June. The emergency substitute teaching license requires district sponsorship. Candidates are not required to have a bachelor’s degree or any prior training, but must submit an application and pass a background check. The sponsoring district must cover the cost of obtaining the license either by assisting the applicant in submitting the application or reimbursing the applicant for expenses. Villa said that people already working in education such as instructional assistants, may be interested candidates.

Villa told News Radio 1240 KQEN right now ESD is unable to provide the number of people on the substitute list because they are in the process of transitioning to the new agency and people are already accessing the application process there.

EDUStaff will take over dispatching substitutes on Monday.