The Midland School Board was urged Tuesday night to consider raising its daily pay rate for substitute teachers to avoid losing “some good subs” to other districts.
Jackie Smith, the head of the local teachers union, told the board that Midland’s $80 daily pay rate is lower than in several neighboring districts.
Among those that could be separately confirmed Wednesday were $100 daily rates in Dunlap and also Henry-Senachwine, which is just a few miles away.
“I believe we could be losing some good subs because of that,” she said.
Smith spoke during a public comment section of the meeting, and the board did not discuss or take action on the topic. But School Superintendent Rolf Sivertsen said after the meeting that Midland had not recently had problems finding substitutes when needed.
“A couple of years ago, we did,” but that seems to have changed as economic problems have increased the number of people looking for alternative employment, he said. “You’d be surprised how many people come in wanting to be substitute teachers.”
In other business, the board voted to extend Sivertsen’s own contract through 2013 at his current salary of $105,000. The contract does not provide for any automatic pay raises, though board members could raise his pay at their discretion.
Siversten has long been an outspoken critic of state policies that have shorted school funding, and he indicated later that his contract is partly a reflection of that situation. He and building principals have voluntarily forgone raises for the coming year, he said previously.
“With the state in a fiscal mess, it is uncertain if any administrative raises will be awarded for (fiscal 2011),” he said.
Gary L. Smith can be reached at [email protected].
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