Local school district using innovative way to fill teacher shortages

CHAPIN, S.C. — Amanda Mignault has been teaching for three years and has yet to step foot in a classroom.  

"I live in South Carolina, and my classes are in Louisiana and Georgia,” said Mignault. 

Her students are in person sitting side by side at their desks while she is at home teaching virtual lessons, remotely.

It's made possible by an Austin, Texas, based company called Proximity Learning which helps school districts fill the need for teachers. 

More than 1,000 South Carolina classrooms started the school year without a teacher. 

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The shortage has prompted districts such as Lexington-Richland school district five to hire virtual teachers for classes. Director of virtual learning Jina Blount said the district has filled five positions so far. 

“What’s great is, there’s no loss of learning. There's a certified teacher who continues to teach students, to work with them," said Blount. "Parents love that because we aren't’ having students who are missing out on instruction while we are searching for a teacher."

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Blount said long-term virtual teaching has proven to be a better alternative to short-term or long term non certified substitute teachers.

Despite virtual instruction, students aren't alone. Every lesson includes a teaching assistant in the room and all teachers-though remote- must follow the districts curriculum.

“They provide teachers who want to work with the grading policies we have in place, the behavior expectations we have in place,” said Blount. 

Blount added that students are still able to build relationships with their virtual teachers, which Mignault has experienced first hand. While her students may be hundreds of miles away, she said it feels like she's met them.

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“That excited text– them coming back to me saying, Hey, I remembered you. I remember the impact you made," said Mignault. "That can even happen here over Zoom.”

Eight districts in South Carolina currently use virtual teachers and there are more than 100 virtual teachers across the state. 

Currently, 48,000 students are enrolled in Proximity Learning classrooms with more than 3,500 classes led by Proximity Learning teachers this year.