It was Thursday night at about 8 p.m.
Wayne Baldwin, a retired Kirkwood School District science teacher, received a text from an administrative assistant in the school district.
“Can you please sub tomorrow?†it said. “We are desperate.â€
This is a scenario that plays out every evening across ºüÀêÊÓƵ. The administrative assistants who assign substitute teachers sit at home on their laptops and phones, emailing and texting into the night, trying to cover classes for the next day as school districts deal with a massive number of positive COVID-19 tests among teachers, administrators and staff.
Both Wayne — who still coaches cross country at Kirkwood High School — and his wife, Ruth Ann, are retired teachers who substitute teach. During the pandemic, such substitutes have been in high demand, and during the various states of emergency issued by Gov. Mike Parson, the Public School Retirement System was allowed to waive the rules that limit the number of hours a retired teacher can substitute without affecting their retirement payments.
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“The waiver was important because it allowed very experienced teachers to help keep things running in a chaotic time when an unusual number of teachers were needed,†Ruth Ann told me this week. “My husband was in demand because he has taught all of the grades and most of the subjects. He knows the kids and has excellent classroom management. Stability is needed more than ever.â€
Because Parson ended the state of emergency in December, even as the omicron variant was sweeping through the state and taxing hospitals and closing schools, that waiver that creates a larger pool of substitute teachers is no longer in effect.
That’s what the Baldwins and other retired teachers in Missouri found out this week. As their phones were buzzing with texts and calls and emails begging them to cover classes, the state’s retirement system for teachers sent out a letter with the bad news.
“Please be advised that the work limit waiver expired December 31,†the letter said. “Full school year work limits apply effective January 1, 2022.â€
The letter came as the winter semester was beginning and schools across the state were scrambling. Last week, the state’s largest school district, in Springfield, had to close its doors because of the number of teachers and students who were out. Others have had to return to virtual learning for a time. Every school district in the ºüÀêÊÓƵ region is struggling to find enough substitutes to fill classes.
The letter, Ruth Ann says, comes at a bad time. Much like hospital leaders who depended on the state of emergency for a waiver to certain work rules and are now pleading with the federal government for help, school districts will be in worse shape than they already were during the ongoing pandemic, as the lack of a retirement waiver will reduce the pool of available substitute teachers.
“Gov. Parson has no clue as to the number of subs needed nor does he see the amount of kids that are missing classes on a daily basis,†Ruth Ann says. “Things are clearly not back to normal. It was hard to find enough subs before omicron made its presence known, let alone now.â€
The morning after Wayne got the 8 p.m. text asking him to substitute, he received another text, from a science teacher he knew. The teacher had tested positive for COVID-19. He needed a sub. Wayne called the school and asked what to do. They switched him to his friend’s class and began the mad scramble to find another teacher, to meet the needs of students during an emergency the governor says no longer exists.