HARTFORD, Conn. _ When the public learned last week that a 23-year-old substitute teacher at Montville High School had been arrested and charged with orchestrating fights between students in his classroom, a question sprung to mind:
What does Connecticut do to assure quality substitutes?
The state does impose higher standards on subs taking on longer assignments _ classroom positions that continue for 40 days or more.
But Ryan Fish was only nearing day 30 in his classroom when he was fired on Oct. 10, 2017, after cellphone videos surfaced that showed him facilitating fights among some students earning his classroom the moniker "the Fight Club."
State Child Advocate Sarah Eagan said Wednesday that Fish appears not to have been qualified to teach his assigned math class.
"Information, including statements from his students, indicate he lacked the skills to teach the class," said Eagan.
In practice, the assignments of more than 40 days are studiously avoided by school districts, and are usually ended just before the district would have to apply for a special authorization for a long-term sub.
One tangible result of beating the 40-day clock is that districts avoid paying subs more. The daily rate in Montville, for example, is $82, while the rate for long-terms subs in the same assignment after day 40 jumps to more than $240 a day, equal to the first rung for certified lower rates.
Montville Superintendent Brian Levesque said subs who are filling in for teachers on extended leave are routinely shifted to a new classroom or school building on the 40th day _ which counts as a new assignment, stops one 40-day clock and starts a new one, and avoids the need for a long-term authorization from the state.
Montville school officials said they've reviewed Fish's hiring and found no red flags. However, prosecutors are considering whether to charge any school officials for failing to report the abuse in Fish's classroom to child-protection authorities.
Fish, whose mother is a longtime Montville High School math teacher, met the requirements: He has a bachelor's degree (from Sacred Heart University) and passed background checks by state police and the Department of Children and Families.
Cheryl Fish had no role in his hiring, Levesque said Tuesday.
"No exceptions were made. He went through the process like anyone else," Levesque said.
The state leaves the hiring and deployment of subs to the local school districts _ until a long-term assignment comes along. In those instances, subs often "become the teacher of record" for the school year and need the "content knowledge" in the subject to carry out the curriculum, said Sarah Barzee, chief talent officer for the state Department of Education.
The longer-term subs must be authorized by the state. They need at least 12 college credits in the subject they are teaching and they must pass a deeper background check, done by the state police and the Department of Children and Families, that is more comprehensive than the fingerprint checks relied on by many districts. In Montville, however, the district voluntarily uses the deep screening process.
Barzee wasn't certain why the legislature settled on 40 days when it set the distinction in 1998.
In reality, many substitutes work for years and never need the long-term authorization, as long as they switch classrooms or buildings every 40 days.
Fish, who was filling in for a teacher on medical leave, very likely would have been moved to a new classroom on day 40, had the alleged misconduct not occurred, Levesque said.
He said he didn't believe that Fish had the subject matter credits to qualify for the state authorization.
Levesque said he shuffles his substitutes before 40 days not to save money, but because he often has more absent teachers than he has subs each day and needs them to fill short-term assignments. He said he also has difficulty finding subs who meet the long-term education requirements.
Fish graduated from Sacred Heart University in May 2017 with a bachelor's degree in philosophy and a minor in psychology.
He was hired by the Montville school district in March 2017 as a computer lab monitor and began subbing in August, Levesque said.
In January, DCF alerted prosecutors to the failure of Montville school officials to report the abuse in Fish's classroom to the child protection agency's hotline. Teachers and school administrators are among those professionals who are mandated by law to report suspected child abuse and neglect or face criminal penalties.
