Jon “J” McKain, left, poses with a pre-K student at Butler Catholic School during a Halloween party at the school. Submitted photo

With a new school year approaching, people who fill in as substitute roles at local schools are making sure their certifications are up to date.

Jon “J” McKain, of Butler, has been a regular substitute teacher at Butler Catholic School for about five years now, and said he keeps up his requirements with state departments, as is required to fill in at the school.

“You just have to have your clearances and certifications, background checks,” McKain said. “You have to get fingerprinted and pass all that before you can sub.”

The Child Protective Services Law requires certain individuals to submit clearances in order to be employed, be a resource parent or be a volunteer with children. Clearances are required for an employee or unpaid volunteer at a minimum of every 60 months from the date of the oldest clearance. Clearances may be required more frequently based on licensure or employer requirements, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services.

McKain said he only substitutes at Butler Catholic School and at HIS Kids Christian School, so he is not familiar with the process of substituting at public schools. He said at Butler Catholic, he sometimes gets a call at 6 a.m. to sub that day, and he has to get ready to fill in the teacher’s day plans before heading into the school.

“At Butler Catholic and HIS Kids, the subs have the lesson plans,” McKain said. “There's times I sub three, four days in a row for some people. I try to correct the homework of the quizzes.”

McKain said he only became a substitute teacher after he retired from full-time work. Even though his background is not in education, but in business and advertising, he did teach some classes at Butler County Community College in the past.

He said he enjoys not only substitute teaching, but volunteering at Butler Catholic’s after-school program, filling in for cafeteria roles and even helping out as a custodian when needed.

“It's a pretty cool gig,” McKain said. “I pretty much teach anything besides algebra and geometry.”

Jon “J” McKain, right, stands with other staff members of Butler Catholic School. From left are Maria Zaniky, Bev Hanratty, Sister John Ann, Michelle McKain and J McKain. Submitted photo