KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) - Several school districts across East Tennessee are in need of substitute teachers. One company is working overtime to place substitute teachers into the classrooms in time for the 2023-24 school year.
Ryan Sutton is the Communications Director for Anderson County Schools. He said that since the pandemic, the district has struggled to find and keep substitute teachers.
“Most jobs, you don’t have to have a substitute in, but with a teacher, you have 20-30 individuals in a classroom waiting to be educated. So we have to have subs in the classrooms to take care of their kids, to continue that education even when our teachers are out for professional development or out for sickness,” said Sutton.
He believes one reason could be because the pay rates have not gone up over the years while other job payrates have.
“I think a lot of that comes into the wage associated with substitute teaching. In government, we have to budget a year or two years out,” said Sutton.
Anderson County Schools is just one district in East Tennessee that gets substitutes from Education Solutions Services (ESS). They also place subs in Monroe County Schools, Lenoir City Schools, Blount County Schools, Alcoa City Schools and more.
Starting this year, Anderson County made the decision that they would increase the pay rates for their substitute teachers, but ESS offers even more incentives for people to become a sub.
“There are even more advantages to becoming an ESS substitute. Specifically, we do offer weekly pay so if you’re working every week, you’re getting paid weekly. We do offer training as well as benefits. We offer health, dental, vision and 401k; all those things,” said Meaghan Ownby, the Recruiter and Account Manager for Anderson County Schools and ESS.
ESS even places substitute teachers throughout the entire country. You do not have to have a degree, just go through proper training paid for by ESS. Sutton explained one major reason they chose to subcontract through ESS was to be able to have retired teachers come back and be a substitute teacher.
“What was happening in the past, before we did this, was our teachers that were retired wanted to work more than 120 days, but they couldn’t and still draw their retirement. By us being subcontracting this service out, were able to have our substitutes teach as much as they want to past that 180 day mark and still draw benefits and retirement,” said Sutton.
ESS is unique because they let subs pick what school they teach at, the district and even the grade level. Ownby said becoming a substitute teacher is a great way to gain a new skill set or be able to spend time with your children on their same schedule.
To apply to become a substitute teacher visit this link.
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