Flagler Schools’ substitute teacher list has been purged of anyone who has been inactive some haven’t taken a job in 18 months in an effort to eliminate unemployment fraud, Chief Human Resources Officer Jewel Johnson told the School Board at its workshop May 4.
The district says about $200,000 in unemployment claims from the previous two quarters were fraudulent. The most recent quarter, covering October to December 2020, was a “more manageable” $42,000, reported Patty Wormeck, Flagler Schools’ chief financial officer.
The district has about 150 substitutes on the books, with about 60 working regularly. Twenty-five were identified as totally inactive and were dropped.
School Board member Colleen Conklin was surprised that a substitute could qualify for unemployment, especially considering there is a shortage of subs in Flagler Schools.