Superintendent: New Canaan Public Schools Grapples with Lack of Substitute Teachers

New Canaan Public Schools’ most pressing day-to-day need is bringing in more substitute teachers, Superintendent Dr. Bryan Luizzi said last week.

The number of teacher absences varies, though January-February “is typically the highest month because of flu season,” Luizzi told members of the Board of Selectmen during their regular meeting, held Jan. 26 at Town Hall and via videoconference. 

Asked by Selectman Nick Williams what number of absences “stresses you,” Luizzi responded, “Our system is stressed with more than a handful, to be honest with you, right now, because of the shortage of subs.”

Asked whether “a handful” means three or four, Luizzi said yes.

“Saxe is different because of the upper/lower division,” he said. “High school is a little bit different. I don’t want to throw numbers out there, but there have been days that we’ve had 30 people out. So how do you cover that without it rippling throughout the system? So we’re actively engaged in problem-solving that.”

The discussion came during a discussion of the Board of Ed’s proposed spending plan for fiscal year 2024.

NCPS had 11 openings for different types of substitute teachers as of Jan. 31, according to the district’s website. District subs must be college graduates and must undergo an application process that includes a background check.

When Williams suggested there could be local parents or recent college graduates in New Canaan that would make good candidates, Luizzi said, “I would encourage them not to be put off by the application. We want people. We need people. We just need quality control, regardless.”

He added, “So as long as they can persevere for the application, we can pick them up after that.”

The public schools in the current academic year have nine “building substitutes,” and that would be reduced to six, according to the proposed budget, with one at each elementary school, two at Saxe Middle School and one at New Canaan High School. Those are certified teachers who are available to step in for “mid-range” absences, such as when a teacher misses several days for flu or another reason.

“We’ll put a building substitute in there so that the students don’t lose instruction,” he said. “They’re able to keep pace with what’s happening, versus having a different person each day trying to interpret lesson plans. Sometimes we’ll have folks where something happens in their lives that they’ll be out for a couple of weeks. We try to use the building sub there. Then as the teachers retire, if the subs are people that we’d like to hire, we also have a bench to pull from to pull people on board if they meet our standards.”

Asked about the reduction from nine to six building substitutes during an interview after the meeting, Luizzi said the money for the three current building subs is to be transferred within the budget in order to stretch the dollars for more educators in the schools. Specifically, the Board of Ed is seeking to increase the number of interns in the district, with three more at each elementary school, two at Saxe and one at NCHS. Interns come in under a successful program where the district pays for their tuition in education, in exchange for working in the schools, he said. If NCPS cannot find enough interns to fill the slots—and supply is down, because fewer people are pursuing careers in education—the funds would be transferred back to building substitutes, he said.

Overall, the Board of Ed’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2024 is about $103.9 million, up 4.84% from current spending. The Board of Selectmen on Tuesday approved an overall budget of $170.4 million for fiscal year 2024, an increase of 5.45%. That spending plan now goes to the Board of Finance, then finally to the Town Council for a final vote April 5.