Ómicron infections have not only put airlines, hospitals and supermarkets against the wall, educational centers are also beginning to suffer damage, as in Texas, where given the shortage of personnel caused by an increase in cases of Covid-19 has led a school district to ask parents to become substitute teachers.
Business Insider reported that the Hays Consolidated Independent School District in Kyle, Texas, sent an email to parents urging them to apply.
The school district also posted about the opportunity for parents to become secondary teachers on their Facebook page , announcing that it is now hiring “certified and non-certified guest teachers”.
Aspiring parent-teachers would need to apply for the position and pass a verification of criminal record, but the requirement to have at least 30 college credit hours can be waived if the principal recommends the parent, said Tim Savoy, spokesman from the school district.
Hays CISD currently has 318 cases of Covid-19 of active students and 61 cases among staff, and cases increased this week, according to the information.
“If we get to a point where we don’t have substitutes, basically we would probably have to send everyone to home, and they would have to make up the time“Savoy said.
The spokesperson added that the school district is “going the extra mile for our parents, because those will be the people that principals will interact with on a regular basis, and they’ll be able to say, ‘hey, yeah, I know this parent. They’re great.’ ”
The school district typically has approximately e 318 substitute teachers available in a typical year, but the district was down to about 61 alternates last year due to the Delta coronavirus variant.
“Since then, we have increased the pool of approved subscribers to around 300”, Savoy told Insider, but due to the Omicron coronavirus variant, “demand also increased considerably”.
“Until now we have been able to cover our classes. For those sub-needs that are not covered, we have campus staff and central office staff that are helping,” Savoy said.
It transpired that so far only three parents have registered to be substitutes.
You may also be interested in:
Hospitals in the United States allow workers with Covid continue to work in the face of the Omicron contagion emergency
Father flees with his 7-year-old daughter to avoid being vaccinated against Covid; mother promises to find her
Supreme Court blocks Biden’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for large companies