Substitutes

There has been an issue with having enough substitutes.  This was brought up in District Advisory Committee (DAC) as well as by administrators at their meeting.

In the past, the District has only accepted applications for substitutes twice a year, followed by interviews and a training class.  In October, there were 350 substitute applications received.  The training is now offered online.  Once new applicants are approved, they can take the online training whenever they would like, submit the paperwork required to prove they did the training, and be fingerprinted.  Then they are ready to sub.  This could happen as quickly as a week if the substitute is motivated to finish.  Now the District will accept substitute applications at any time, not just twice a year.

Part of the lack of substitutes has to do with them now being paid hourly instead of half-day or full-day.  The District website still shows half-day and full-day rates, not hourly rates, which may cause confusion for substitutes.

From June LeMaster, Human Resources Director:
-The substitute teacher pay has also changed in that subs are paid hourly and not by half days or full days.  They are used to arriving late and leaving early and expecting to be paid the full day.  As subs are paid with taxpayer money, we are holding them accountable and paying them only for time worked. 
-Principals have always maintained the authority to have a substitute work a full day even when students are not at school, as long there is work for the substitute to do.
-We realize some subs are disgruntled with the changes, specifically for being paid only for the hours they work; however, we believe we are being fiscally responsible with taxpayer money. The money saved will be diverted to other District needs.

Secretaries are being asked to "babysit" substitutes and have them working with students all day, including covering other classes during the one teacher's prep if a sub is unavailable at the secondary level.

There was a concern mentioned that secondary teachers feel that not subbing on their prep period when a substitute has not arrived may be held against them in the future.  This should not be happening.  Teachers should not feel guilty for not covering a class during their prep period.

If you are having problems with not enough substitutes or complaints about the pay of substitutes, please let me know.  This issue may need to return to DAC.