Improvements in pay, cleaning up the database and starting recruitment/outreach efforts earlier seem to be paying off as Arlington Public Schools seeks to have enough available substitute teachers on hand throughout the 2024-25 school year.
Superintendent Francisco Durán on Sept. 5 told School Board members initial trends were “promising” – with the school system able to fill 80 percent to 90 percent of the need in schools in the first weeks of the academic year.
That compares to between 60 percent and 80 percent in recent years.
Gerald Mann, the school system’s chief academic officer, said increases in pay for both occasional substitutes and those who fill in on a long-term basis have helped, as has clearing out names of those no longer available or interested.
“We have rebuilt the pool – we are close to 1,000 if not over 1,000” available substitutes, Mann said. “We are looking good.”
On another front, the Arlington County Police Department started the year short in the number of crossing guards. Durán on Sept. 5 said he had been told by Police Chief Andy Penn that the department still needed to fill nine vacancies.
