Have a high school diploma? Manatee school board eases the requirement for substitutes

After a swift decision by the School Board of Manatee County, the school district now has looser requirements for the substitute teachers working in local classrooms.

Previously, substitute teachers in Manatee County were required to have a bachelor’s degree or 60 credit hours from a university, the minimum requirement for most associate’s degrees. The school district will now accept applicants who hold a high school diploma or a GED, an effort to address the shortage of substitute teachers, according to public records.

Each substitute teacher has a profile in the district system, said Wendy Mungillo, the director of personnel. She said the teachers submit all of their preferences, including their weekly availability, their preferred schools and what kind of programs they hope to teach.

When the program sends a request for substitute teachers, it chooses which people to notify based on their profile. Mungillo said it was hardest to place substitute teachers in Title I schools and special education programs, often because people were uncomfortable with the related challenges.

Between Aug. 5 to Jan. 14, the district had 417 unfilled requests in elementary schools, 78 unfilled requests in middle schools and 18 unfilled requests in high schools, according to information provided by the district.

Mungillo said the district also surveyed a dozen other school districts, calling their offices or visiting their websites to learn more about their substitute requirements. She said four required an associate’s degree or higher, while another eight required a high school diploma or GED — the new requirement in Manatee.

Manatee’s new requirements were listed under the school board’s consent agenda, a list of actions that are usually approved with one vote and no discussion. With a sweeping vote, board members unanimously approved the new job descriptions and more than a dozen other items on Tuesday.

Liv Coleman spoke during public comment at the meeting, just before the school board voted. Coleman, a Manatee County resident and an associate professor at the University of Tampa, felt district officials were eroding the quality of education in local classrooms.

“Substitute teachers are teachers,” said Coleman, a former Democratic candidate for the Florida House of Representatives. “They are not babysitters.”

“They are responsible for engaging students according to lesson plans, managing classroom dynamics and discipline, making sure they don’t lose a day of learning while their regular teachers are away,” she continued.

She said the pay for substitute teachers was already dismal, and that lowering job requirements would only motivate schools to hire less qualified teachers at an even lower price.

The pay for a full day of substitute teaching depends on a person’s qualifications, according to the documents:

• High school diploma or equivalent — $89.
• Bachelor’s degree — $100.
• Bachelor’s degree (Title I schools) — $110.

Coleman acknowledged the challenges created by a labor shortage, and she recommended a boost to the pay for substitute teachers.

At the end of Tuesday’s meeting, the school board’s vice chair explained his position on the new requirements, empathizing with Coleman’s earlier comments.

“If we were to raise teacher pay, supply and demand kicks in and we might be able to get some qualified college graduates,” Charlie Kennedy said. “I think that’s a good argument.”

“But we have to deal with this crisis and this shortage now,” he continued. “That’s how I feel about it and that’s why I supported it.”

Gina Messenger, the board chair, said she supported the change after discovering that long-term substitute teachers would not be affected.

“When somebody is out on maternity leave and somebody is gone for weeks and weeks, that is a different job description than what was changed tonight,” she said.

Tuesday’s change also affected the age requirement for substitute teachers. The previous job description required applicants to be 19 years old to work with elementary students, and 20 years old to work with middle and high school students.

The age requirement is now 21 across the board, according to the documents.

Bridget Mendel, the only school board candidate to challenge Messenger as of Tuesday, was vehemently opposed to the change. She spoke during the meeting, calling the change a misuse of tax dollars.

“I can only imagine the lawsuits we will have to fund against the district when a 21 year old with a high school diploma or GED is covering a classroom and screws up because they don’t have the maturity or the proper training to educate children,” Mendel said.

This story was originally published January 16, 2020 at 5:00 AM.