As the number of teaching vacancies filled by substitutes grows, so does the impact on students left without a permanent, qualified instructor.

Substitute Pierre Donaldson is currently taking the place of English IV Honors teacher Joshua Kaufman, absent since Nov. 15. Until a permanent replacement is found, Donaldson will continue to substitute the class and issue assignments given to him by department head Rita Gold. However, there is no one grading the collected work at the moment.

Donaldson has expressed interest in teaching. “Although I have a Bachelor’s degree in history, if offered the job for the whole year I would probably agree to take it, but I would need to take the English subject area exam,” he said.

Kaufman himself was a replacement for the class’s original teacher, Meital Furer, who stopped teaching one week into the school year. When it became apparent that she was not returning, Kaufman was hired.

The lack of a legitimate instructor has affected the students. “We’re seniors and we’re beginning to apply to scholarships and colleges that need essays,” senior Sarah Kingsley said, “and we don’t have an English teacher to help us.”



Others do not mind as much. “It’s cool; we just watch movies, do busywork, and get easy As. We’re getting credit but we’re not doing anything,” senior Mauricio Blackwood said.

This is not the only class lacking an English teacher. Down the hall Yvetta Jones, who is on leave until the fourth quarter, also needs a replacement. Available substitutes assign bookwork and FCAT worksheets to her class.

Jones grades the assignments and returns them. “We’re not really learning anything because no one reviews with us,” junior Macarena Mino said.

Principal Matthew Welker understands the situation. “The worst case with substitutes is it’s a warm body to supervise the students because they are not equipped to deal with the subject matter,” he said. “All they are required to have is an associate’s degree, the fingerprint and drug test, and willingness to be called on a moment’s notice.”

Replacements are being sought, but until then, various substitutes will continue to fill in. “It’s productive, but it’s kind of boring without the teacher. It was more fun when she was here,” junior Janell Yunayev said about Jones.

Eric Phillips, another English teacher, left this year but did not require a replacement because his classes were able to be fit into other teacher’s schedules.

In the math department, Louise Muscarella left on Dec. 2 to work at the Region III center as a curriculum coordinator for secondary mathematics. Muscarella filled in after Dr. Elaine Keane left 10 days into the school year to work for a professorship at Miami-Dade Community College.

When Muscarella took over, she graded five weeks worth of papers and brought the students up to par with the information they needed. “Ms. Muscarella caught us up to what we were learning and I hope that the new teacher will be able to as well,” junior Morris Stein said.

Another class which required catching up was computer teacher Consuella Allen’s: Fallon Phanord, a Krop alumna, began teaching it two weeks ago.

A substitute took over for seven weeks in between Allen and Phanord. “We just did book work and didn’t really learn anything. We were learning stuff we already knew,” junior Massiel Collado said.

Bernetta Deshazior, who taught Business Systems and Technology, left the school after five weeks and was replaced by Drake Pearson, who was teaching a business course in New York, but applied for the job and received it.

In the magnet program, the vacant chorus teacher slot has been filled by David Sommer, a pool substitute in his fourth year at Krop. Pool substitutes are obligated by contract to be paid everyday and receive close to a regular teacher’s salary. Only a maximum of two pool substitutes are allowed, making it even harder to find teachers to fill positions. “Mr. Sommer is qualified to teach us, but it’s not fair that we can’t have a constant teacher,” junior Jessica Levis said. “It takes time to get used to a teacher’s musical style and it’s always changing on us.”

The chorus class went through three teachers last year, ending with Sommer. When the replacement for this year decided not to show, Sommer was asked to fill in again. “I expected to do some degree of teaching, but I didn’t know the other teacher wasn’t coming. However, I was prepared,” he said.





Sommer has the musical qualifications but does not have a teaching certificate for the state of Florida. “I’m hoping I can graduate before they find a replacement, and I will be able to permanently keep the job,” he said.

“To me as a magnet singing student our teacher has the same technique in training than any officially certified teacher,” sophomore Ariel Bowman said.

Krop’s other pool substitute, Diane Marcus, is currently filling the shoes of librarian Leslie Major, who is on leave until February.

“I wish we had a pool of candidates for when we had an opening so we could just choose someone as we wish,” said Welker. “Right now there are no teachers coming forward that meet our requirements.”