School officials grateful for state COVID funding extension for substitutes

The Cape Girardeau School District is giving two thumbs up to Gov. Mike Parson’s office for extending funding to help Missouri districts recruit and keep substitute teachers as the pandemic drags on through the winter months.

Parson, at the recommendation of the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), recently approved an extension of money from the state’s Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF) to help qualified state residents who want to substitute in classrooms or who are currently serving as subs.

In October, DESE greenlighted an alternative route to obtain a substitute teaching certificate to address a sub shortage made worse by COVID-19 and also helped defray the cost through the CRF reimbursements. This month, DESE decided, with Parson’s OK, to keep the money flowing to continue incentivizing people to fill in for pandemic-impacted permanent teachers.

“For DESE to provide this reimbursement has been really critical in recruiting new individuals into our sub pool,” said district deputy superintendent Christa Turner, who oversees human resources for the 4,330-student pre-kindergarten-12th grade district.

Driven by the health emergency and as a method to boost the number of available substitutes, DESE first relaxed its educational requirement for subs.

Before COVID’s onset, a person wanting to sub needed to have 60 hours of college credit, but a new pathway for sub certification was created to allow a person with a high school diploma or its equivalent the opportunity to teach.

“Those 60 hours of college have been a barrier for some people who do a great job working with kids,” said Turner, adding the pandemic has opened another career option.

In addition to the college credit requirement being removed, DESE — for a limited time — is offering full reimbursement for the $50 state-mandated sub certificate and the $175 online training fee. The latter is a 20-hour course.

The certificate reimbursement will show up as a credit for the substitute for those who applied between Nov. 5, 2020, and March 31, 2021.

The online training reimbursement is also a credit for those who paid between Nov. 5, 2020, and Feb. 28, 2021. One caveat: The substitute must have completed the coursework by the end of February to qualify for the money.

Missouri DESE announced the emergency rule permitting the alternative route for substitute teachers expires March 1.

Turner said the Cape Girardeau School District has long covered the approximate $50 cost of the fingerprint background check for substitutes.

The district has one more incentive for subs — a $100 bonus for substitutes who work at least 10 days in a calendar month, Turner said.

Cape Girardeau County’s largest public school system, the 5,617-student Jackson School District, reported fewer than 10 of its substitutes came by way of DESE’s reimbursement incentive, according to Merideth Pobst, the district’s director of communications.

More information about the reimbursements, as well as recent updates to substitute certification rules, may be found on DESE’s substitute teacher webpage or by calling its Office of Educator Quality at (573) 751-2931.