Officials Introduce More Stringent Hiring Process For Substitutes

The district will be more stringent when selecting substitutes to fill in for teachers when they are out of the classroom.

A newly-formed, 10-member committee met earlier this month to discuss how the district should move forward regarding substitute teachers. The group is composed of school officials and parents.

Superintendent Ray Gonzalez gave an overview of the recruitment and hiring process the district will utilize moving forward at a Board of Education meeting last week.

Substitutes will have to pass a background check and will be expected to speak English, among other requirements. Teachers and principals will provide background on substitutes, the website reported. Substitutes must also be certified.

The district has purchased a substitute placement software program to help officials manage substitute teachers, NorthJersey.com reported Thursday. The district used the program, which cost nearly $19,000, two years ago.

Teachers notify officials through the program that they’ll be absent either on the phone or online. The program searches for substitutes that meet the requirements a specific position has.

Officials will select and train new substitutes this summer to prepare them to work beginning in September.

Officials created the committee and revamped the hiring process for substitutes after it was reported that a substitute hit two Pines Lake kindergartners in the head in March. Dozens of parents blasted district officials for failing to properly address the incident or take appropriate steps to rectify the situation.

The substitute worked for Source4Teachers, an employment fire for substitute teachers.

District officials and Source4Teachers decided to mutually forego renewing their contract earlier this year.

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