Teachers and parents urge action on substitute shortages and special-education secretarial staffing

Teachers, parents and school staff pressed the Santa Fe Public Schools Board of Education on April 10 to address two recurring operational problems: chronic shortages of substitute teachers and the apparent absence of a dedicated special-education secretary at Santa Fe High.

"On any given day, we have at least 10 teacher absences, and most of these go unfilled," Jennifer Warren, a first-grade teacher at Nina Otero Community School, told the board during the public forum. "That leaves us splitting classes, taking students who aren't even at our grade level, into our classrooms or having to give up our own very valuable prep time. Please, this is not sustainable."

Multiple speakers described the same symptom: teachers repeatedly losing prep time, classes combining across grade levels and students having insufficient desks or supplies when classes are split. "Today, Nina Otero had 18 staff members out," first-grade teacher Claire Love said. "Teachers are being forced to split classes and or sell their prep time at an untenable frequency."

The district's interim superintendent, Veronica Garcia, acknowledged the problem in her staff report and said the outside company the district contracted to supply substitutes would need about 60 more employees to reach an estimated 80% fill rate. "If the salaries are lagging, that's an issue," Garcia said, and she said staff would return with a budget recommendation to address recruiting and pay.

Separately, a speaker identified as Coby Hansen described a contract dispute at Santa Fe High School over a required special-education secretary. "Article 29 section 10 subsection b reads, 'Each special education department with more than 175 students will employ a special education secretary whose workday is dedicated to special education duties,'" Hansen said, reading from the district's collective bargaining agreement. He said his wife had scheduled roughly 400 meetings this year for students with individualized education programs (IEPs) and asked when the district would be in contract compliance.

The board did not take formal action at the meeting on either issue. Interim Superintendent Garcia told the board she would return with a staffing and budget proposal for substitute coverage, noting that salary competitiveness and whether to return to internal staffing were part of the analysis. On the SPED-secretary question, the district’s human-resources and labor-relations offices will need to review the contract language and the staffing structure at Santa Fe High, representatives indicated during the meeting.

Speakers at the public forum also recommended other supports—stipends, improved onboarding for substitutes and attention to working conditions—to reduce turnover and improve coverage.

No votes or motions were recorded on these items at the April 10 meeting; the matters remain under staff review.