Conroe schools hike pay for subs
CONROE — Substitute teachers and custodians are getting pay raises in the Conroe school district, largely because their jobs have been so hard to fill in the pandemic.
The raises — roughly $10 a day for most subs and custodians— will be effective thisweek. District leaders hope it helps solve a shortage that was leaving 500 substitute jobs a week and 50 custodian positions vacant in November.
Other teachers and even administrators have to pick up the slackwhen a substitute can’t be found for a classroom, a move made trickier by social-distancing standards.
“The substitute teacher job fill rate has been below 70 percent for most of the school year,” according to the amendment to the pay plan that the CISD Board of Trustees passed before winter break in December. “The district believes that
by increasing the daily pay rate the district will be able to attract additional substitute teachers, as the recommended increase will bring CISD in line with what other districts are paying.”
The new rates put substitutes on short-term assignments at $95 a day if they have a degree and $105 if they also have certification. For long-term assignments, the increase brings pay to $120 and $130 respectively.
“The substitute fill rate is significant for all staff, because if we don’t have a sub in a classroom, teachers are giving up their own time to go into that (classroom),” CISD Superintendent Curtis Null told the board after the pay plan adjustment had passed unanimously. “So, although that $10 is directly paid to the substitute, that is also an investment in all of our teachers in the district.”
The district estimates that this pay increase will add a cost increase of $300,000 to the 2020-21 budget, but that can be paid for within the current budget with savings from less overtime and the remaining budget from unfilled positions.
Several Houston-area school districts have reported challenges with finding substitute teachers, though few, if any, have raised their pay amid the pandemic. Substitute teachers generally earn about $90 to $120 per day in the region’s largest districts.
Custodians have played a critical role in keeping schools open, but the positions have been hard to fill.
“Currently the district has over 50 unfilled custodian positions, in addition to custodians that are out on approved leaves,” according to the pay adjustment recommendation. “The unfilled positions account for over 1 million square feet of district facilities that are being cleaned by current custodians receiving overtime pay.”
The pay adjustment will increase the starting salary for level 1, 2, and 3 custodians not in supervisory positions by $1.50 an hour. Before the adjustment, these positions were starting with $10.85, so they will now be making $12.35. Level 3 custodians in a supervisory role, and all positions level 4 or above, will receive a $1 increase in the hourly rate to $16.25.