BY STEPHEN H. COWLES/CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Playback58@gmail.com

ISLE OF WIGHT—The cold and the flu season has taken a toll on the substitute-teaching fund in Isle of Wight County Schools.

As a result, central office employees are stepping in to teach, and students are being shuffled to other classrooms.

“IWCS is not out of funding for substitutes, but the reduced budget is already very stretched with several months left in the school year,” said Superintendent Katrise Perera.

The budget included $364,886 for substitute teachers. As of January, $231,186 had been spent, leaving $133,700.

“In an effort to save teaching positions in this year’s budget, significant cuts were made in several areas and substitute funding was among those,” said Perera.

Principals were asked to save money and find creative solutions so students are still being taught when their regular teachers are out, she said.

“The choice was to either keep teachers from losing their jobs or find ways to cover the reduced substitute budget. We chose to keep our teachers,” Perera said.