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'Trying to be creative' | Third-party staffing company could help fill substitute teacher gaps in Union County

An initial proposal projected the cost to be less than $50,000.

UNION COUNTY, N.C. — Union County Public Schools could soon outsource substitute teachers. 

School board members will vote on allowing a staff management group to hire substitutes during the next meeting on Monday, Oct. 10. It's a possible action the district could take as school districts across the nation scramble to find substitute teachers.

“We're all hands-on deck and trying to be creative this year,” district superintendent Andrew Houlihan said.

UCPS leaders said over the last year, they've been meeting with potential staffing and management groups to address the need for substitutes. The board of education could vote to approve a substitute staffing company called ESS to fill positions they haven't been able to. 

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“They can recruit and provide more incentives that we can't," Houlihan said. 

“They would have individuals on staff that do the hiring and recruiting, they deal with any screening, any HR issues, all the training," added Shanna McLamb, the district's chief financial officer.

According to a proposal that McLamb sent to the district's finance committee, the cost of outsourcing to ESS would likely cost less than $50,000. Another added incentive would be potentially ensuring other staff and teachers don't need to cover additional classes.

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“Substitute teachers are critical," said  Steve Martin, who is running for the District 6 seat on the UCPS school board. Still, he had questions.

“How will they transition to this vendor? Will that be seamless?” Martin asked, also saying he felt that there's been a lack of transparency on this possible transition.

Other concerns he had included the worry that new substitutes wouldn't be familiar with the district's culture and that the quality of job candidates could be affected.

“Over time the quality of the substitute pool is going to go down,” Martin said.

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According to the district, recruiting substitutions is an ongoing process. Right now, nearly 80% of substitute jobs are filled as compared to just 30% during the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

School officials also said other districts across North Carolina have used the same company and had success.

If approved, UCPS is looking to implement this project by January. 

Contact Lexi Wilson at lwilson@wcnc.com and follow her on FacebookTwitter, and Instagram.

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