South Jersey school district hires parents as substitute teachers
CHERRY HILL, N.J. - In Camden County, one school district is looking from within to help fill teacher vacancies. The Cherry Hill School District is recruiting parents for substitute teacher roles and dozens of parents are stepping up to help educate.
"I received an email from the Cherry Hill School District that they were in need of subs and I looked at my husband, I said this is exactly what we might need," says Michelle Pacitti, a parent and substitute teacher.
A mass email was sent to all the parents within the Cherry Hill School District last January. Pacitti is one of many parents that answered the district’s call for help and is now substituting at schools in Cherry Hill.
When asked about her first time substituting, Pacitti says, "I was super nervous. I did it in the local elementary school in my neighborhood. I remember walking in saying I was with ESS and first thing they said to me was we love our subs. I was like, okay, this is going to work."
It has been working and, since September of last year, Pacitti has created her own schedule, substituting at least once or twice a week.
Working hand in hand with the full-time teachers in order to allow the kids to keep learning every day, even when the teachers aren’t able to come in, and they are not just covering sick calls.
"One lady had to go get her driver’s license renewed so, she left exactly what she wanted me to do to stay on task, so that, tomorrow, when she comes in, everything is done. I like being the teacher and feeling like I did something rather than babysitting them with a movie all day," says Pacitti.
This substitute initiative within the district is through ESS, which is a company that works with schools kindergarten through 12th grade, across the country to find substitutes.
Officials say ever since the pandemic there’s a growing need nationwide.
"We are starting to see less students graduating from college with degrees in education or wanting to get into the education area so, that has really increased the demand for substitutes teachers. We’ve seen retirees over the years go up too," says Brian Engle, the Vice President of Operations at ESS.
The substitutes that ESS find, including the parents, have to qualify, based on the New Jersey Department of Education guidelines for substitute teachers.
Currently, the parent substitute initiative is only being done in Cherry Hill.
"We always say our programs work the best when the local community is involved and that’s really been the initiative of this program," says Engle.
Cherry Hill School District Superintendent Dr. Kwame Morton says this initiative has been a big help and believes this may be a strategy many other districts can use.
Dr. Kwame Morton stated, "We have a passionate community of individuals who love the schools; they love their children and will do whatever it takes to help the children and the district be successful.
ESS officials say the program has been so successful, there are discussions to incorporate the program in other districts in New Jersey.