ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — To help relieve a dire staffing shortage in New Mexico public schools, the state’s governor has stepped up to be a substitute.

A press secretary for Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham’s office confirmed to KOAT that she is now a licensed substitute teacher, and will be assigned to an elementary school this week.

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Last week, New Mexico became the first state to ask National Guard troops to serve as substitutes in preschools as well as K-12 schools, The Associated Press reported. Any volunteers would need to clear a mandatory background check, complete online substitute teacher training, and then be onboarded at a school where they’re placed, CNN reported. A new program would decrease the licensing process to two days.

In making the decision, Grisham’s administration told The Associated Press that districts and preschools need at least 800 people to fill shifts that range from one classroom period to a full day.

Grisham told CNN the aim of the initiative is “to keep schools open and support educators, parents and students through the worst of omicron.”

So far, 50 National Guard members and 50 state employees have signed up for the initiative, CNN reported.

New Mexico’s Republican House Minority Leader Jim Townsend told the AP, “She wants to be a hero when her administration does something unusual … just to cover up her failure to put a plan together that works. They’re not teachers. That’s not what they were trained to do.”

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