Board eyes raising pay for substitute teachers

SOUTH COVENTRY >> A shortage of substitute teachers has prompted the Owen J. Roberts School Board to propose a mid-year rate hike in an effort to attract more fill-ins.

At a recent special board meeting, Superintendent Susan Lloyd said reviewing pay rates in January was an unusual move for the board, which generally only examines part-time and casual employee wages during April budget talks.

“The board took an unprecedented move in response to the substitute crisis,” she said. “Usually we only look at this once a year.”

The board’s finance committee discussed the proposal to raise substitute pay by $10 per day at a committee of the whole meeting on Monday. The committee agreed to move the matter to the full board for a vote at the next regularly scheduled board meeting at 7 p.m. on Jan. 21 at the high school.

If approved, the rates would rise from $105 to $115 for subs who work up to 20 consecutive days, and from $115 to $125 for positions lasting more than 20 consecutive days.

District Chief Financial Officer Jaclin Krumrine said there is also a third tier of pay for some positions that are more difficult to fill. The proposal calls for upping those rates by $20 per day, from $120 to $140.

According to Krumrine, the higher rates would

bring OJR’s substitute pay into the average range for area districts. Currently, the district’s pay rate is below average.

“The subs are telling us they can go a few miles up or down the road and make more money,” Lloyd explained.

Substitute positions are filled through online listings that enable teachers to see pay rates for other local districts, she pointed out.

At OJR, substitute teacher rates have remained unchanged for at least five years, according to Krumrine.

Some board and audience members wondered if the $10 increase was adequate, particularly since some nearby districts have rates that will continue to be higher than OJR.

“Is 10 bucks going to make a difference here?” asked board member Paul Friel.

Board member Leslie Proffitt called it a starting point for the board, which

will review pay rates again in April.

“We’ll have a couple of months of history to know whether we moved the needle or not,” Krumrine said.

Owen J. Roberts is not alone in struggling with a substitute teacher shortage.

“There’s a huge shortage of teachers overall in Pennsylvania and that’s causing a shortage of substitute teachers,” Krumrine explained.

That shortage is due to a drop in the number of college students graduating with education degrees, leading to a sharp decrease in the number of teaching certificates issued annually over the past decade.

In 2009-10, the Pennsylvania Department of Education issued over 14,000 teaching certificates. In 2016-17, that number had plummeted to 4,412.

“We’re not the only school struggling with it. It’s something all districts are experiencing within the state,” Krumrine said.