LA MARQUE — The La Marque school district, in search of better-trained substitutes, took the unusual step of hiring a private firm to provide its substitute teachers.
Trustees hired a company run by former teacher Kim Yancy to interview and train new substitutes in an effort to boost the quality of temporary teachers in La Marque’s classrooms, district spokeswoman Denise McLean said.
The district is the only one in Galveston County to contract with a private firm to provide substitute teachers. Only one other school, Mainland Preparatory Academy charter school in La Marque, contracts with Yancy’s firm.
One longtime substitute said she’s been stonewalled from getting jobs in the district because she refuses to join Yancy’s company, Edutemps Staffing Solutions.
Brenda Ford, who has been a substitute for the La Marque school district for more than a decade, said she won’t join Yancy’s company because she refuses to pay the firm’s fees for background checks and training.
“How are you going to train me for something that I’ve been doing for years?” Ford asked.
Yancy charges $45 for a criminal-background check required by the state; $45 for a drug test; $27.50 for training in cardiopulmonary resuscitation and first aid; and $80 for substitute teaching certification training, though she has waived that fee so far.
Ford said Yancy’s rules are restrictive, including a dress code preventing substitutes from wearing jeans. Yancy also recommends substitutes who wear open-toed shoes should have pedicures, Ford said.
“Come on — what does that have to do with the price of beans in Texas?” Ford asked.
Yancy said she’s tried to cooperate with Ford and the others who refuse to join her company, but they have been unwilling to work with her.
“We’re basically raising the standard, and anytime you raise the standard other people have to adjust and sometimes people don’t want to do that,” she said.
Yancy’s company gets first pick of jobs, so Ford and a dozen other substitutes who refuse to join Yancy’s company have been scrambling to find work in the district, Ford said.
Principals can choose which substitute teachers they want at their schools, McLean said.
Ford, who said she’s accustomed to working five days a week, said she’s had trouble getting jobs in the district. She said she’s considering filing for unemployment.
Meanwhile, McLean said district officials have been pleased with the quality of the substitutes provided by Yancy’s company.
Yancy requires all substitutes complete a 12-hour training course in classroom management and instruction techniques before she places them in classrooms.
Prospective substitutes must have 60 hours of college credit, pass a drug test and a background check, be willing to learn the latest teaching strategies, display professionalism and have a positive attitude, integrity and a love of children, according to the company’s information.
Yancy said when she started teaching she was appalled by the low standards set for substitute teachers.
Before the recession, the nation was facing a crisis in the lack of qualified substitute teachers, Yancy said. That crisis prompted her to start her company in early 2009, she said.
Since the recession began, area districts have had no trouble finding qualified substitute teachers. Dickinson, Friendswood, Hitchcock, Santa Fe and Texas City school district officials reported seeing a spike in the number of applicants with bachelor’s degrees and teacher’s certifications interested in substituting.
Officials at those districts, many which have an overabundance of substitutes, said they haven’t considered hiring a private firm to provide substitute teachers.
