Amid Rising COVID Cases, MISD Hiring Substitute Teachers, Staff

MONTGOMERY, TX — The Montgomery Independent School District is hiring temporary positions for teachers, staff and bus drivers to help deal with rising COVID-19 cases among the district's schools.

Each of the district's schools are affected in some way by substitute teacher shortages, according to Justin Marino, the district's director of communications. Some of the specific staff positions the district is looking to fill include child nutrition substitutes and paraprofessionals to help teachers.

According to Montgomery ISD's COVID-19 dashboard, the district had 395 active cases of COVID-19 as of Friday. Of those, 42 were staff members.

If a student or employee tests positive for COVID-19, they must stay at home until they have passed three benchmarks:

• 10 days have passed
• no fever for 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medication
• symptoms (if present) improved

The district is offering free rapid testing every weekday by appointment at the Education Support Center.

"Like many school districts in our region, [MISD is] working diligently to meet the needs of all students during the pandemic," Marino said.

Bus driver applicants must have a commercial driver's license to apply.

Rates for support staff substitutes start at $70 per day, with bonuses available for Monday/Friday shifts as well as long-term positions, which are defined as filling the same role for 10 consecutive days.

For teachers, a minimum of 50 college credit hours is required. For non-degreed hires, the rate starts at $85 per day with bonuses available. The starting rate is $90 for those with degrees and $105 for certified teachers.

In the case where staff shortages get too severe, the district has contingency plans which involve moving district personnel around to fill in for absent staff, according to Marino. This includes academic coaches, teacher aides as well as district office personnel.