A shortage of substitutes has put a strain on Central Oregon schools.

BEND — A widespread substitute teacher shortage has left Central Oregon teachers, principals and administrators filling in the gaps on top of their regular responsibilities.

The shortage has put a strain on schools statewide. To help alleviate it, Oregon officials temporarily dropped the requirement of a bachelor’s degree for licensed substitutes.

There are two types of substitute teachers in Oregon: licensed substitutes, who fill in for licensed teachers, and classified substitutes, who fill in for instructional assistants and are commonly needed in special education classrooms.

The temporary rule, recently filed by the Oregon Teacher Standards and Practices Commission, applies to licensed substitutes and allows people without a bachelor’s degree to be sponsored by a school district to fill in for a teacher.

In Central Oregon, there is a much larger demand for classified substitutes. Classified substitutes do not need to be licensed.

The High Desert Education Service District, which recruits and manages the placement of substitutes in Central Oregon schools, typically strives to maintain a roster of 1,000 licensed and classified substitutes. The district currently has fewer than 500.

“There are a number of reasons for this shortage (locally and nationwide) including the impact of the pandemic on the workforce,” Jayel Hayden, the human resource director at the education service district, said in an email.

Hayden said last month, nearly 89% of the 1,744 licensed substitute requests were filled. Meanwhile, only 55% of the 872 requests for classified substitutes were filled. On average, the district typically fills more than 95% of requests, Hayden said.

“We are hopeful in that we have multiple licensed substitute orientations scheduled over the next several months and are confident that we will be able to meet the needs of our district partners moving forward, and we also want to acknowledge the strain this current shortage is putting on the dedicated school teams in our region,” Hayden said.

He added that the High Desert service district will be working closely with school districts to include substitutes sponsored by the schools, and that the district is actively recruiting classified substitutes.

“Last year, so many of our Central Oregon parents stepped up as virtual classroom assistants to support distance learning when our region’s school buildings were closed,” Hayden said. “Now that our kids are back in classrooms, we’re hoping to inspire some of those dedicated folks to share the skills and insights they gained with our entire community of kids.”

School districts have also experienced difficulty hiring staff, particularly classified staff including bus drivers and instructional assistants who tend to earn lower wages.

Although some school districts have improved wages and benefits, it is still difficult to compete with the private sector during a national labor shortage.

Sheila Miller, a spokeswoman for the Redmond School District, said the district has felt the substitute shortage primarily with instructional assistants.

“Our IAs (instructional assistants) individualize a lot of our instruction, so they’ll work with students in smaller groups,” Miller said. “When we’re short on IAs and can’t get a substitute, that means there are larger groups … and a larger student-to-teacher ratio.”

Miller said that while the school district can manage being short a couple of people, it is more difficult when those positions require more contact with students.