Cumberland County Schools look to hire more substitute teachers as many leave classroom for good

Cumberland County Schools says it's taking steps to hire more substitute teachers after having a major shortage following the pandemic.

Substitute teacher Orion Richardson tells ABC11 that teaching at Anne Chestnutt, his old middle school, is a full circle moment. Now specializing in science, Richardson says helping children grasp difficult concepts is his life's mission.

"You can understand something, but you might not comprehend everything. So my biggest thing is also to comprehend and to for them to understand what I'm trying to teach them," Richardson.

Cumberland County Schools placed Richardson in one of their classrooms as part of the district's new partnership with a company called ESS. The county says it partnered to recruit substitute teachers after its substitute fill rate dropped from 92% before the pandemic to 68% afterward.

"A lot of our substitutes ended up finding other types of employment, more of the gig economy type of employment, more flexible," said Cumberland County Schools' Associate Superintendent of Human Resources Ruben Reyes.

The district says losing so many substitutes meant teachers had to take on more responsibilities and combine classrooms. With ESS's help, the district says substitutes will get more robust benefits and more frequent pay.

"We want to make sure that when our substitutes are in the classroom, nothing is missed," said Courtney Williams, district manager of ESS.

But officials say there is still a need for substitutes--as CCS says it could need as many as 600 in a single day.

With ESS's help, the district says substitutes will get more robust benefits and more frequent pay. But officials say there is still a significant need for more substitute teachers. ESS reports it's hired about 400 substitutes and that almost 500 others are currently in the hiring process. But it needs almost 2,000 substitutes total for Cumberland County.

As the county keeps trying to recruit more substitute teachers through ESS, Richardson says he will keep putting his students first.

"...And to push them further into their education so they can strive to be who they want to be in life."

RELATED | Agreement reached over school resource officers, crossing guards in Cumberland County

The special meeting came as Fayetteville raced against the clock to fill these jobs in time for the new school year.