SUBSTITUTE TEACHERS TAKE EDUCATION DAY BY DAY

With about 400 teachers working in Cape Girardeau Public Schools, there always is a need for substitute teachers who can step in -- sometimes with only a moment's notice -- to handle classrooms of students.

It is the responsibility of the principal at each school building to find substitutes.

But the school district administration is responsible for screening potential substitute teachers and getting them certified through the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

"We maintain the list at the main office and make sure they are qualified, but the principals decide who they want to call to fill in," said Richard Bollwerk, director of elementary education for the public schools.

"We're always looking for good substitute teachers: people who are interested sign-up, and the more we have, the better opportunity our principals have to get a qualified person in to teach."

Bollwerk's secretary, Diana Deneke, maintains the list of substitute teachers for the school district.

Anyone interested in being a sub must fill out an application, which includes information about their college credit hours, the subjects they have knowledge of, and whether they prefer teaching at the elementary or secondary level.

"If they do not have a regular teaching certificate, we have to get a substitute teaching certificate for them," explained Deneke. "Once they get a substitute teaching certificate, we put their name on a list, and they are eligible to substitute in our school. With this certificate, they are eligible at any school in Missouri."

According to guidelines by the state education department, anyone with 60 to 119 college credit hours can substitute up to 45 days in the school district. Someone with more than 119 hours can substitute up to 90 days.

"If a person has a teaching certificate, they can substitute as many times as they want or we need them," Deneke noted.

There is a list of about 120 substitute teachers for the Cape Public Schools right now. Deneke sends to principals lists of people with qualifications that might be suited to a particular school.

The substitute certificate is good for one year. At the beginning of each school year, a letter is sent to substitutes from the previous year to see if they are interested in continuing.

Most of the substitutes sign up in the fall, but Deneke said that after December graduation from college, many new graduates looking for teaching jobs get on the sub list.

She said how often a substitute is called really depends on how they fit into the needs of a building principal. "It seems like once they get established with one of the schools, and the schools fill comfortable with them, many times they are called over and over again," Deneke said.

Bollwerk added that the repeated use of a substitute often depends on his availability.

"If you call somebody and they are available most of the time, they tend to get called more frequently than others," he said.

Many of the substitutes are retired teachers or recent graduates with teaching certificates looking for jobs.

"We have a number of retired teachers who have gotten on, but most of the subs are people who have certificates and would like to be employed sometime as a full-time teacher," said Bollwerk.

Substituting does not always lead to a job in the school system, but it does give someone an opportunity for classroom experience while looking for a permanent teaching assignment.

Bollwerk said he's unsure how many full-time teachers in the school system began as substitutes, but admits it is a way for some people to break into a school system.

"Substituting gives the school principal an idea of a person's abilities that they would not know from the standpoint of just having an application," said Bollwerk.