It was suggested that we need a permanent roster of long-term subs—the kind that work in schools—not those that come in to take on a long-term assignment for a particular educator. Please provide information regarding this endeavor.

Question#: 6

ANSWER:

Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS), in collaboration with the Montgomery County Education Association (MCEA), has developed a Memorandum of Understanding that calls for the creation of a Permanent Substitute Teacher Pilot.  This pilot will allow us to deploy a cadre of permanent substitutes to our schools with the greatest number of unfilled substitute positions. The Office of Human Resources and Development (OHRD) is collaborating with the Office of Teaching, Learning, and Schools and the Employee Retiree Service Center to implement the pilot, including identifying schools most impacted by the substitute shortage and those substitutes having expressed an interest to fill these critical needs.

This pilot, established in collaboration between MCEA and the MCPS Department of Labor Relations to support schools highly impacted by unfilled substitute positions, will provide substitutes with enhanced compensation, and stability in terms of number of hours and frequency of work. Also, we are looking to provide additional professional opportunities for substitutes.

Further, since September 2021, in an effort to address the shortage of substitute teachers, OHRD has hired more than 500 substitutes and processed more than 1,200 applicants.