Nearly 2,400 requests for substitute teachers have gone unfilled in Duval County since the start of school

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Nearly 2,400 requests for substitute teachers have gone unfilled in Duval County since the start of school.

There have been nearly 10,000 requests for DCPS substitutes and paraprofessionals since Aug. 20.

On any given day, there have been 300 to 600 requests, according to data from the Duval County Public Schools.

“For the first month, typically missing days is probably at a minimum, that’s a lot of people not getting their positions filled,” explained Chris Guerrieri, a DCPS teacher of nearly 20 years.

Of all requests from Aug. 20 through Sept. 16, the district reported 2,373 were not filled. That’s 26 percent.

6,841 requests were able to be covered.

On Sept. 11 alone, spread across the district’s 150 schools, there were nearly 600 total requests for subs.

419 requests were filled, 179 were not.

The district reconfirmed with Action News Jax on Tuesday that it has about 2,000 subs registered.

Guerrieri says he doesn’t understand why there are so many going unfilled.

“It’s obvious from the list if there’s 2,000 subs, 1,600 of them aren’t feeling like taking any positions.”

He says his concern going forward is, “As more kids come back we are going to need more subs, and unless more subs show up things are going to get worse and worse.”

DCPS tells Action News Jax there are several options when a request goes unfilled that include:

• Another teacher can elect to cover the class during their assigned planning period and receive additional compensation
• If the teacher is assigned to Distance Learning classes, students can be combined with another Duval Homeroom teacher who is teaching the same content. Additionally, the Duval Homeroom model provides the teacher with the flexibility to record lessons for absences projected in advance
• The class can be covered by a dean, teacher, or administrative staff

Below is the daily breakdown of filled and unfilled substitute teachers in DCPS from Aug. 30 through Sept. 16.:

Cox Media Group