As of this year, the Altoona Area School District has been seeing problems with finding substitute teachers to help fill in for classes. Some teachers have been having to fill in for those classes that are without substitutes, while still managing their own classes.

“I like the long term subbing jobs because I get to know my students better,” art substitute Betsy Cron said. “I feel like a lot of the sub shortage problem comes along with the fact that right now, you could probably get paid more at a Sheetz than being a sub and not a lot of people can deal with managing teenagers or kids or whatever age they may be subbing for.” 

Some students who have substitutes for teachers have also given input about their feelings towards the absence of their teachers. 

“I feel like having a sub to cover my art class really doesn’t feel any different than having our regular teacher,” junior Madelyn Crawford said. “We learn the same material and usually at the same pace. We just have to learn to do it with somebody new. I like having a substitute teacher because sometimes I can help them out if they are struggling with student’s names or the teaching material at all.”

Along with the downfalls faced in finding substitutes, there have been many benefits that were found, and how these jobs have affected them. 

“I’ve had overlapping jobs where I work at Baker, and they still book me at the high school the same day,” Cron said. “They will overlap at different times for different jobs. I usually am a long term sub, so I spend a large chunk of my time in one room. I like teaching high school because I have kids in this age group and it’s easy knowing that they are near me and know where I am located throughout the day.”

Even through some challenges this year, some still find ways to bring humor and enlighten the mood of these no substitute situations. Special education department head Erin Dunkel decided to try to bring humor to the coverage situation.

“Basically, because our special education teachers are co-teachers, they aren’t the primary teachers of those classrooms,” special education department head Erin Dunkel said. “ When there are not enough subs, they will get pulled to cover those rooms, and I just wanted to bring some humor into these situations. It definitely did kind of lift some teachers’ moods. Especially the teachers who had coverage all of the time. I’ve been trying to keep this going, because it’s fun and is something to laugh at. Now that we have some more subs, I’ve been trying to do it every other week. I’ve heard some positive comments, but nobody has really said it has affected them. But everybody got a good chuckle out of it.”

Although some teachers have faced problems with finding substitutes, they have found some benefits. 

“Lately, because of an increase in their rate, I’ve noticed an increase in subs taking on assignments,” secretary Kris Hallinan said. “ Honestly, we’ve been fortunate enough that the subs are taking the jobs.”

This year, some have seen how COVID-19 has been affecting the school days and staff. Teachers within the school are able to cover the classrooms that aren’t provided with substitutes. 

“The subs seem to enjoy coming here,” Hallinan said. “ I appreciate the help that I’ve received from the teachers in covering classes when we don’t have enough subs to cover the classrooms.”