Most nights during the week, Christena Dickson checks for open teaching positions.

Dickson has been a substitute teacher in Bonneville Joint School District 93 for the last four years. After recently getting her teaching certification, this could be her last year as a substitute before becoming a full-time educator. And there have been plenty of teacher absences for her to cover this fall.

“Other years, I might go into school not feeling my best, when I was maybe sick with a cold but not contagious. This year that’s not an option,” Dickson said.

School districts and charter schools across Idaho have been dealing with a shortage of substitute teachers this fall to make up for the teachers who have caught the coronavirus or been quarantined due to a potential exposure. The substitutes that do come in are happy to work part-time and help keep schools open.

Hailey Wilde moved to Idaho Falls from Firth over the summer. Wilde had done some substitute teaching with previous districts and chose to pick it up again this fall to help make sure schools were able to operate for her children and others.

“It’s not the highest paying part-time job, but it’s the strongest way I can support the district and the kids. Without us the schools would be shutting down,” Wilde said.

A shortage of substitute teachers in Boise School District was one of the reasons its schools were moved entirely online as of Monday. An inability to keep classrooms running is one of the potential triggers for Idaho Falls School District 91 to move more schools to an alternating-day approach or shift lessons entirely online.

Nancy Peterson is the sub placement clerk for District 93 and has been asking for more people to apply to be subs since the start of the school year. Peterson said a significant chunk of the substitutes that worked last year chose not to come back because they were older or had health concerns that put them at higher risk for coronavirus complications.

“They didn’t want to be in the classrooms because of COVID, and we lost a lot that way. The subs that have come along have been good, really willing to hop in,” Peterson said.

Idaho Falls School District had four teacher absences Monday that weren’t filled by subs. Assistant superintendent Kelly Coughenour said the district had 72 registered substitutes who accepted an open teaching position in November. Each school in District 91 has its own policy in place for how to fill those vacancies that remain.

“One school might have a lot of parents who are willing to come in if they are desperate for subs, but only at that school. Another school could have a lot of Title 1 staff or other classified positions that are moved over,” Coughenour said.

Charter schools also have been pushing to attract more substitute teachers. White Pine Charter School has seen principals and assistant principals step into classrooms this fall to make up for teacher absences, while Alturas International Academy has been accepting substitute teacher applications throughout the last three months.

Bonneville School District started the school year with about 110 substitute teachers who were regularly available. That list has since grown closer to 150 potential substitutes, though Peterson said there were still unfilled positions. Some of the substitutes were only able to work specific days, while others chose to work with specific schools or grade levels.

Dickson is recovering from a minor surgery and only works two or three days a week. Wilde works alternating weeks, and both subs have worked at multiple grade levels but prefer elementary schools.

Wilde spent a week earlier this fall as the sub for one fourth-grade teacher in the Bonneville district who was out for COVID-related reasons. Only eight of the 25 students were in the class on her first day. While more students returned to the class during the week, Wilde said it remained a challenge to get them back into the lessons without knowing how previous lessons had gone.

“You end up playing catch-up with kids all the time. It’s tough to know what they learned last week or what they had accessed at home while they were quarantining,” Wilde said.

Officials in both the Bonneville and Idaho Falls districts were concerned about a spike in coronavirus cases and quarantines in the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas break. Coughenour was optimistic that college students who had a long break before returning to classes in January could help fill those spots over the next few weeks.

Despite the difficulties with jumping into classes, Dickson and Wilde said that surprisingly little had changed when it came to how they taught students once they were in the classroom.

“Other than the basics changes like wearing masks, the kids know what they need to do still, and they are still there for the same purpose,” Dickson said.