Belle Plaine looks for full-time substitute teacher

BELLE PLAINE — The Belle Plaine School Board voted this month to hire a full-time substitute teacher.

“We don’t have enough subs,” said Superintendent Chad Straight. When all the substitutes are in classrooms, other teachers and staff cover classrooms with absent teachers.

“We do try to compensate them a little for that,” said Straight.

Even then, the district is sometimes short. “Sometimes administration covers,” Straight said.

“I was in music this morning,” Elementary Principal Heather Coover said. She can’t put elementary school students in study hall, she said. Someone must cover the classroom.

“We have wonderful subs who work for us,” said Straight, but sometimes the district needs more on site than it has available.

Substitute teachers aren’t assigned only to classes they are proficient in teaching. “I don’t care about the specifics,” said Straight. “We need a sub.”

New board member Tylar Gallagher asked who a substitute is evaluated if not by subject matter.

Substitutes are evaluated on instructional performance rather than knowledge of a subject, Straight explained. They are expected to be prepared and to stay on task and manage a classroom regardless of the subject.

The board is advertising for substitute teachers on its website and will also post on Iowa Works as required by the State, Straight said.

AEAs

Straight also told board members that the State has talked about rolling Area Education Agencies into the Department of Education. Straight is worried that the district will lose some services if that change happens.

Service from the Department of Education has gone downhill the past five years, Straight said. Getting a response from the Department is often difficult.

Belle Plaine’s technology is run through Grant Wood Area Education Agency, and it shares social workers through Grant Wood, Straight said.

Board member Rima Johnson suggested the board make parents and the public aware of the possibility of a change so they can advocate for the AEAs.

An AEA is southern Iowa, which provides services for special education programs, is working with parents of children in special education to advocate for the AEA, said Straight.

“So that’s how they’re doing it down there.”

“There’s no more powerful group than parents,” said Johnson.