RALEIGH, N.C. —
North Carolina state employees are seeing leave rules eased to help address staffing shortages in the K-12 schools caused by COVID-19.
Gov. Roy Cooper's administration announced Wednesday that workers can fill in as paid substitute teachers through mid-February and still use their community service leave allotment.
Full-time workers get 24 hours of such leave annually, but it couldn't otherwise be used if the person was getting paid for the duties. It also could apply to cafeteria or bus driver fill-ins.
Districts across the state have been struggling to keep positions staffed because of workers testing positive or low pay.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools is just one district feeling the impact.
CMS is averaging around 1,000 teacher absences each day. Teachers who are able to come in are covering more classes and their already busy day is stretched even thinner. Even with the central office helping, CMS is covering less than 50% of the classes that need substitutes.
The Cabarrus County Board of Education also head a presentation this week on how staffing shortages are impacting the district.
Officials say the district is averaging more than 100 teacher absences since Sept. 1 and that classes are being covered by substitutes and other teachers covering rooms.
During an interview with WCNC Charlotte on Wednesday, North Carolina Speaker of the House Tim Moore said the General Assembly work together on ensuring students across the states are able to learn in person while also navigating the uncertainty of COVID-19.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.