Santa Barbara Unified struggling with substitute teacher shortage

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — A record spike in COVID-19 cases brought about by the Omicron variant is causing staffing shortages nationwide.

Substitute teachers are part of this national labor shortage and their absence has been stressing school administrators in Santa Barbara since in-person classes started again last month after winter break.

Within the Santa Barbara Unified School District, they’ve experienced a 60% decrease in their substitute teacher pool during the pandemic.

“It’s almost this perfect storm of a shortage of subs but also a high number of absences in our teacher ranks,” SB Unified assistant superintendent of human resources John Becchio said.

“Fellow teachers are stepping up big time to cover each other’s classes,” Dos Pueblos principal Bill Woodard said. “Counselors are stepping in, administrators are covering.”

Substitute teachers are also difficult to find.

“We’re trying to actively increase the sub-pool,” Woodard said. “This would be the best way to combat this issue, by increasing the number of subs that we have on-hand.”

In a recent recruiting effort, SB Unified is raising substitute teachers' pay by $50 a day.

Watch tonight on NewsChannel 3-12 and KKFX Fox 11 news.

(More information, video and pictures will be added here later today.)