Some districts use noncertified subs
Kentucky School Advocate
April 2016
By Matt McCarty
Staff writer
The need for more substitute teachers is an ongoing dilemma for many school districts across the state, with several gaining approval to use emergency noncertified subs to combat the issue.
Casey County Schools is one of 28 districts in the state that uses noncertified substitute teachers.
“We always contact the people on our certified sub list first,” said Shawn Pierce, Casey County’s director of districtwide programs. “If we don’t have anybody that can fill those duties that day, that’s when we go to the emergency people next.”
The district has used noncertified subs for 13 years with approval from the Education Professional Standards Board. While Casey County currently has eight noncertified people on its sub list, Pierce said they rarely are called.
“I think the last quarter we used two. The quarter before that three. There’s some names on there that have not been used in two to three years,” Pierce said.
EPSB first allowed districts to use noncertified subs in 1998 starting with five districts. That was expanded to 12 the following year. In 2000, any district could apply for the program.
“We have a hard time finding subs,” Pierce said, noting the district has about 40 certified substitute teachers. “For example, some of our certified people may be people that have part time jobs or that can only work on certain days. So there’s a lot of subs that are not full time.”
Noncertified subs earn $73 per day in Casey County and certified subs earn anywhere from $77-$93 per day depending on rank.
Noncertified requirements
To use emergency noncertified substitute teachers, districts must present the following to the Kentucky Education Professional Standards Board:
1. The number of teaching days not filled with an appropriately certified teacher or appropriately certified emergency substitute in the preceding year.
2. The extent and anticipated usage of emergency school personnel.
3. A plan to eliminate the need for emergency school personnel in the future.
4. The steps taken by the district to recruit and retain emergency certified personnel.
5. The recruitment of persons with a high school diploma (or its equivalent), age 25 or over, except an individual enrolled in an approved teacher education program who may be less than 25 years old.
6. Recruitment of parents or paraprofessionals assigned to the school (the EPSB does not encourage the use of instructional assistants assigned to other classrooms, since regular classroom teachers are relying on these assistants to be available to them).
7. A detailed outline of a minimum 18-clock-hour orientation program including emphasis on student safety, district policies and procedures; district may develop their own or use program online at www.kyeducators.org.
8. An outline of the district screening process, including the required criminal record and reference check.
Source: Kentucky Education Professional Standards Board