LAFAYETTE – Going into her 10th year as a substitute teacher, Elisa Liles knew 2020 would be challenging for schools with students getting adjusted to new safety protocols and administrators having to manage hosting both in-person and virtual instruction simultaneously due to the coronavirus pandemic.
But what Liles didn’t expect was just how much she was going to be needed to help every week as more teachers become infected, are being quarantined after contact tracing investigations or may need to stay home to care for other ill family members.
“This year has actually been the worst that I’ve ever seen,” said Liles, of Lafayette, who works for the Tippecanoe School Corp. She’s called in to substitute teach about three times a week, and regularly works for Hershey Elementary, Wyandotte Elementary and Battle Ground Elementary and Intermediate schools.
“The schools give us a list every day of who needs substitutes,” Liles said, “and the list is very long this year.”
All TSC students moved to remote learning this week and will continue that way through Thanksgiving break, after district leaders said the increase in COVID-19 cases and resulting quarantines have made school operations difficult to continue.
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