FARMINGTON—At the beginning of the school year the Davis School District had close to 100 classified positions to fill such as bus drivers and lunchroom workers. Now it’s February and not only are those still open but there is also a shortage of people willing to substitute teach.

“This is a situation we’ve never faced before,” said Davis School District

Director of Communication & Operations, Chris Williams. “”The problem isn’t that we don’t have enough substitutes. We have plenty. Our pool exceeds 2,000 people, they’re just not accepting substitute positions.”

The district has had a 90-99 percent fill rate for a number of years, he said. “Currently it’s 85.29 percent. We’re shooting for 100 percent so teachers don’t have to do double duty and not do their regular job to cover a class.”

Williams said there could be a variety of reasons people don’t want to substitute. “Maybe you have a substitute teacher who doesn’t want to substitute during a global pandemic. Some like the flexible schedule of not being tied to a specific job, others are willing to only substitute in the south end of the county and don’t want to drive somewhere else. Combine all of those factors and a global pandemic and substitutes are hard to find.”

It’s a challenge for a school to know what to do, he said. “Teachers in secondary schools usually have a prep period during the day. So you might have a science teacher whose coworker is out and a substitute can’t be found so they fill in during their prep period. Or you might have a substitute who can come in for a portion of the day but not all day so the other teacher can help.”

Sometimes an administrator or principal will cover a class, said Williams. “But they have other jobs to do.”

There might also be a situation in which a teacher in the fourth grade teaching math will bring in other classes who are learning the same subjects, he said. “We’re trying to be as flexible as possible.”

Filling nutrition services and bus driver positions has remained a constant challenge since the beginning of the year, Williams said. “There are not enough drivers so we’ve had to double up routes. With kitchen staff there might be one person working in the cafeteria. That’s not only hard for that person but the students because it takes longer to go through the line to eat.”

Williams said it’s also tough to get employees when people can make more at a fast food restaurant. “They’re making $15 right out of the shoot. We can’t do that. It’s a challenge – no question about it.”