Las Cruces Public Schools ready to tackle teacher shortage with more substitutes

LAS CRUCES, N.M. (KFOX14/CBS4) — Las Cruces Public Schools conducted a poll in early 2021 that showed that over 80 teachers would not work on the first week of school.

This happened due to the district's change to a new school calendar.

However, Las Cruces Public Schools wanted to prevent teacher and substitute teacher shortages from happening again by being better prepared for the 2022-2023 school year.

RELATED:Las Cruces Public Schools teachers to miss first days of 2022-2023 school year

CBS4 spoke with the school district and they said they already had hundreds of substitute teachers on standby for the new school year.

"We knew there was going to be a need for more substitute teachers that’s why we were able to get a pool of teachers and they have committed to not only be available on the first week but throughout the school year if need be," said Samantha Lewis with the Las Cruces Public Schools.

Lewis said that they had over 600 substitute teachers who will be working for the district for the first week of school.

The reserve of substitute teachers will also be available for the rest of the 2022-2023 school year, which was much more than they had for the 2021-2022 school year.

"This time last school year we had less than 100 substitute teachers in our pool," Lewis said.

CBS4 also spoke with parents about the shortages the district experienced in the 2021-2022 school year, and they said their kids were struggling with their test scores and homework.

"It was just a mess, a big mess," said Lorraine Mondragon.

Other parents looked on the bright side and said that the previous shortage had to happen for the school district to make a change.

Maybe it might not have been such a negative thing now that everybody’s kind of figuring out how to do it," said Michelle Carrasco.

The district will be reinforced by retired teachers who are allowed to return to the district as substitute teachers three months after retirement, which in turn could raise the number of substitute teachers available for LCPS.

Lewis also said that many substitute teachers found a passion for education and are considering becoming teachers.

"With our substitute teachers that are currently in the classroom they have the option to come back and reapply for a position to become a teacher full time with LCPS," said Lewis.

Lewis added that they are always in need of substitute teachers, so their applications are always open for anyone that is interested.

To apply to become an LCPS substitute teacher.

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