ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, July 1, 1996 TAG: 9607010105
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: BEDFORD
SOURCE: JOANNE POINDEXTER STAFF WRITER
SUBSTITUTE TEACHERS, and the attendance of teachers, is under close scrutiny in Bedford.
The Bedford County Education Association's plea for a change in the way substitute teachers are used has not gone unheard.
Superintendent John Kent says that he will change the county's substitute-teacher system for the next school year and that he is working on a proposal that would take a harder look at teacher attendance.
Under the present system, each county school is allotted a number of substitute days, based on the number of students and teachers in the system.
The number of substitute days varies from school to school: Huddleston Elementary School with 211 students and 11 teachers has the fewest authorized days at 27, and Jefferson Forest High School, with 1,210 students and 64 teachers, the most at 153.
If a school exceeds its substitute allotment, Kent said, the principal is held accountable. Kent contends that teachers can't do their jobs if they are away.
Kent said principals have the discretion of using aides and reducing the planning time for other teachers to cover for absent teachers. He said he knows of cases where a principal has taught classes for absent teachers.
Throughout the system, Kent said, "every time a substitute is used, a teacher is out." But, he added, "teachers are out more times than we use substitutes."
School figures show that only Liberty High School, with 56 teachers, exceeded its quota of substitute teacher days in the 1995-96 school year. Most schools used fewer than half the days, and Bedford Educational Center didn't use any of its days. The system excludes long-term, medically documented cases and maternity and professional leave.
Jess Tucker, vice president of the Bedford County Education Association, said schools also are using aides and taking away planning time rather than using up their allotments. In some cases, he said, student teachers are used as substitutes or classes are combined when a teacher is out.
That's unfair to the students who need individual help, and the teachers who have large classes and need time to plan, Tucker said.
Substitute teachers are paid $50 a day, and the county has 25 to 30 substitutes that it regularly uses, said Kent, who initiated the allotment policy in 1987 to save money. The system was spending more than $300,000 a year for substitutes when the allotment system was started, Kent said.
Under the system, he said, the number of teacher absences requiring the use of substitutes has dropped and stabilized. The expenditures for substitutes dropped to $75,000 two years ago. The school board, however, budgeted $100,000 for substitute teachers for the 1996-97 school term because of projected enrollment increases.
Although teacher attendance has improved, Kent said he still thinks it can be better.
Kent announced plans to change the system after the education association's appeal to the School Board. He said Wednesday that an administrative committee is studying the issue and will report to the school board July 25.
"I'm just tired of the BCEA focusing on allotments rather than attendance," he said.
In asking for a change of the system, the teachers' group called the allotment system unfair and intimidating.
Although there may be a few teachers who abuse attendance policies, most teachers feel guilty about missing a day of school and will come in even when they are sick so the students won't suffer, said Tucker, the education association vice president. The abuses, he said, should be handled individually by the school's administration.
Tucker told the School Board that about 90 percent of the 170 association members who responded to a recent survey said they think teacher absenteeism is handled poorly, but they're afraid to complain.
He said that the teachers' group hopes the School Board will be sympathetic to its plea and develop a countywide policy on teacher absences and the use of substitutes.
"We are more than happy to work with them on this" because the success of the schools depend on the teachers, BCEA President Julia Hayth said.
Betty Earle, a School Board member, said she thinks a policy governing the use of substitutes and teacher attendance will be developed very soon, and she expects something to be in place when school reopens.
"I felt strongly all along this wasn't simply a matter of money," she said, referring to the School Board's budget increase for substitute teachers.
A lot of discretion, she said, has been used about when to call in substitutes, but the circumstances need to be clearer.
Teacher absenteeism, she said, "is a valid concern of the school system, but if you have sick days, you are entitled to use them."
Teachers are on a 200-day contract, which includes 180 days of teaching; they are paid sick time and receive one personal leave day.
LENGTH: Medium: 90 linesby CNB