Bellows Free Academy’s student population has grown 9.6 percent since last year causing the teachers and staff of BFA to work the hardest they have in the past years.

With Covid spiraling out of control in Vermont, many teachers and subs have been forced to stay at home, leaving the schools with low staff and barely enough teachers to meet the demands of students. 

According to BFA’s Assistant Principal of Curriculum and Instruction, Sara Kattam, BFA’s five core subs that they can rely upon during these tough times, Bill Sawyer, Bert Berthiaume, Sally Larry, Andrea Senesac, Deb Godin, along with Wesley Dunn, who will be a full-time English teacher starting in the spring semester, are subbing almost every day.  

“I’ve been subbing every single day; I’ve never had a free day,” Dunn said. “In a way, it has been good because subbing has allowed me to do some of my own work,” Dunn added.   

According to Aron Smith, Executive Assistant to the Superintendent, the sub shortage isn’t just throughout BFA and the Maple Run Unified School District, but also surrounding districts.

When asked why BFA has a sub shortage, Kattam replied, “We don’t have enough people that want to be subs. We posted positions and people are just not applying.”