Preparing for two teachers to go on maternity leave over spring break, the math department was thrown a curveball as both babies came early, and another teacher went on leave for personal reasons.

Both Melissa Hoormann and Janell Byrd went on leave before spring break; and Scott Swanger had personal matters to attend to in which he could not continue teaching.

“I think the biggest struggle was the A-day classes for Mr. Swanger,” math department chair Kurt Lehmann said. “I think they had a different sub every day for two and a half weeks. So they weren’t really learning much.”

The math department had two subs lined up for the two soon-to-be mothers but were forced to react quickly when Swanger’s situation came up. When one of the subs backed out, the math department had one sub lined up for three teachers.

In order to cope with this, the department was forced to change its plans.

“Of the 10 remaining teachers, we had seven change their schedules,” Lehmann said. “They gave up a conference period in order to teach, and they will get financially compensated by the district.”

While some teachers schedules shifted, only four teachers — Beal, Caruso, Dresser and Worman — picked up an extra class.

Originally a sub meant for Byrd, Susie Richmann, came in early, around Feb. 17, to sub for Swanger’s class, and has since moved back in to cover for Byrd.

“The biggest difficulty, in my opinion, for a sub is always discipline,” Richmann said. “Students don’t think subs have the regular authority that teachers have, and that’s unfortunate. Luckily for me, I think I handle that pretty well because I have taught before, as other subs may struggle.”

Richmann taught at Kirkwood for five years, Parkway North for three years and Pattonville for one year. Her schedule was changed somewhat frequently when she first arrived, but the chaos has calmed in the recent weeks.

“The hardest part has been learning new names over and over and over,” Richmann said. “I was always getting new classes; but now my schedule is settled and the classes I have will be until the end of the year.”

Lehmann is grateful for the teachers he has in his department due to the way they handled the obscure situation.

“We have a really good staff,” Lehmann said. “Everybody has just jumped in and done anything they can do to help out. The teachers that were remaining have been phenomenal and the two subs are also very willing to do extra stuff to get it all done.”

The mayhem that is the rotation of math teachers sparked some worry among parents.

“We’ve had a few parent concerns, but they have been addressed pretty well,” Lehmann said.

Through the scheduling shifts that have engulfed the math department, all of the regularly scheduled events continued. Events such as ACT prep, honors induction ceremonies and math team competitions could not be placed on hold.

“It hasn’t been bad, but it has made for a very busy spring,” Lehmann said. “But, it happens.”