Shoals Area School Systems Need Substitutes Across the Board

COLBERT COUNTY, Ala. (WAFF) – Area superintendents say they are looking to fill several positions for substitute teachers, bus drivers, custodians and child nutrition workers.

The shortage of substitutes in Shoals is forcing school systems to be more resourceful. Teachers are working as bus drivers and bus drivers are working in the cafeteria.

Even school resource officers are helping fill those roles, as some area superintendents said they are short on substitute workers in multiple positions.

“You never know what someone is going through until you walk in their shoes,” said Dionne Williams, a resource officer at Brooks Middle School. “So I definitely have a lot of respect for them now.”

On Thursday, Williams had to take on a new role at the cafeteria.

“It’s a lot of work,” Williams said. “There’s a lot of food prep, kids prep, and it’s an all-day process. There’s heavy pots to lift, food to prepare, and I had no idea what all that entailed.”

She realized there was a shortage of child nutrition workers and decided to volunteer her time to serve food.

Williams later told some of the bus drivers that they needed help and the next day those two bus drivers, Jannice Whitehead and Angi Medley, were in the cafeteria helping to serve lunch.

“They’ve been pretty short lately,” Williams explained.

But it’s not just one school system. Sheffield City Schools Superintendent Carlos Nelson said they have a shortage of people who want to work as custodians or bus drivers.

“Last year I met with our teachers and this was one of the main areas of focus for them,” Nelson said. “So we have been trying to improve the hiring of substitutes for our teachers.”

Nelson said Sheffield had a shortage of substitute teachers last year and learned from it, so they don’t have any shortages in that department yet.

“We have been attending job fairs and distributing applications for substitutes,” Nelson said. “We have increased our substitute rate to be comparable to other schools in the district.”

She said there might be some hurdles with the application process if you’re not familiar, but they’re always willing to help.

“Some of the substitutes who may not be very familiar with technology or may not be able to log into some portals to get clearance for their background check or to get clearance from the Alabama State Department of Education may run into some of the computer issues that we have this year,” Nelson explained.

Williams said she recommends more people sign up to become surrogates.

“It was a real joy to be able to come and help them and it really made their day and it made mine too,” Williams said.

Florence City Schools leaders have also said they are short on substitutes. On Friday, they were short about five people and had to scramble to find substitute staff. But under previous circumstances, they have said, the shortage was much worse.

School leaders hope more people will sign up and become substitutes.

One mother heard Williams’ story and was at Brooks’ cafeteria on Tuesday volunteering her time as a substitute child nutrition worker.

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