This 2015-16 school year, WCHS has suffered a shortage of subs due to the high demand in the area. This leaves WCHS teachers to cover classes during their plan periods.

As of November 5, teachers have covered over 140 classes. The high school administration (the principal, assistant principals and athletic director) has covered 23 classes this year.

The substitute problem isn’t only an issue for the administration and teachers, it is affecting students’ education as well. “I feel like my education is being taken away from me,” Mylan Freeman, senior, said. “In high school, a sub means that it’s a ‘chill’ day.”

Mrs. Leslie Parsons, the 200s office administrative assistant, takes care of coverage for individual class periods. She said the substitute problem hasn’t gotten worse since last year and the amount of substitute teachers needed hasn’t decreased since last year. According to Mrs. Parsons, the average amount per week that a WCHS teacher covers a class is estimated to be about twice per week.

There are over 100 subs available for the West Carrollton School District (WCSD). However, substitutes have many choices for what they want to teach and the different school districts they can go to subsitute. “[WCSD] increased the rate of pay for our subs to make us more competitive with other districts,” said Mrs. Parsons.

Principal Mr. Craig Myers said it costs twice as much to have a teacher cover a class than it does to pay a substitute teacher. This is ultimately costing WCHS twice as much money to get classes covered.

Ms. Wendy Sercu, the main office administrative assistant, takes care of substitute teachers that are in the classroom all day. If a teacher has to take leave for special circumstances, Mrs. Parsons gets involved to help find a substitute that really knows the subject that they’d be teaching.