Teacher shortages have been causing a disruption in school recently. The district was concerned over the number of teacher absences that have been taking place and not being able to fill spots with substitutes, resulting in two days of school being canceled Tuesday and Wednesday after Martin Luther King Jr. Day. 

According to the West substitute coordinator, Susan Meyn, at the beginning of the semester there were many teachers absent, but things are slowly getting back to normal. 

“I think [teacher shortages] are because of COVID and there is a fear of COVID,” Meyn said. “I think that we just need to be careful. A lot of it’s COVID, a lot of it’s family members with COVID.” 

According to KSHB, an emergency declaration that temporarily lifts some requirements for substitute teachers was passed by the Kansas State Board of Education to help add the amount of subs available to cover the widespread absences. 

“It’s district-wide, and right now it’s even statewide because the government has lowered the number of hours that a sub has to have in college,” Meyn said.

Teachers at Olathe West have been helping fill spots that weren’t able to be filled. This caused them to lose their hours of lesson planning, though most staff members are willing to help 

“When we had 20 absences a couple of weeks ago,” Meyn said. “I got several emails from staff members saying they can double up here and there.” 

Not only does this shortage affect the district, but Meyns’ job has been affected as well. 

“I know that if I have a lot of subs, I have to come in earlier, sometimes I’ve had to come in as early as 6 a.m., and my normal day starts at 6:45, so I can have subs and everything ready by 7:00,” Meyn said.

With all the absences and COVID cases, many teachers have stepped up and helped each other making it easier to get back to normal. 

“When you consider that we have 113 teachers and at least a third to half of them are volunteering to help pick up the slack, that’s pretty nice, that’s a pretty cool school to have that,” Meyn said.