Milford Schools Substitute Teacher Shortage Challenging Amid Winter

MILFORD, CT — Milford Public Schools continues to experience challenges getting enough substitute teachers, a problem that is widespread throughout the state.

“We continue to face a shortage of per diem subs, making it difficult as you can imagine to cover our daily absences, especially in the winter,” said MPS Human Resources Director Wendy Kopazna during a Board of Education meeting.

The district increased its per diem rate from $125 to $140, which helped somewhat, she said.

The school district has 18 building substitutes, compared with 29 last year, Kopanza said. More building substitutes were hired last year due to COVID-19. It would be difficult to hire and get back up to the 29 figure at this point, she said.

Another challenge is the lack of teacher interns. There were only 13 interns this past school year, compared with 22 the prior year, Kopazna said.

“This is indicative of individuals not going into the teaching field, which is of concern,” she said, adding that interns often become future district teachers.

MPS hired 55 new teachers this past year, which is about average for the district. Nineteen of the 55 are Milford residents and several have six-year certifications or PhDs. There were 33 teacher resignations, which is a typical number, and 16 retirements, which is a little lower than average, Kopazna said.