Bentonville School District Proposes Substitute Raises

BENTONVILLE -- The School District appears poised to raise its pay rates for substitute teachers, citing increased difficulty in filling every absence.

The district's success rate of finding substitutes for absent teachers ranged from 94 percent to 99 percent last year. There have been a few days this school year the district has seen its fill rate fall below that range, according to Dena Ross, executive director of human resources.

"Our fill rate is not horrible. It is still good. It's just not as good as it has been," Ross told the School Board on Monday.

Competition plays a big part in Bentonville's consideration of the matter. The Rogers School District pays $87 for fully certified substitutes and $81 for noncertified who have bachelor's degrees. Bentonville pays $85 for fully certified substitutes and $78 for noncertified.

Rogers also is considering pay raises for its substitute teachers, Ross said.

Bentonville administrators initially proposed pay rates exceeding what Rogers offers. Board members eventually reached a consensus they want to match what Rogers pays, starting in January.

"I think that's our competition," said Brent Leas, board member, about Rogers.

"And it gives us a semester to evaluate whether that was effective, or did we still struggle, and do we really need to be higher," said Travis Riggs, board president.

The board didn't vote on the matter Monday. That likely will be at the board's next meeting Dec. 15. Exactly what impact the increase will have on the district's budget will be presented at that time. Administrators determined the higher pay rates they initially proposed would be manageable.

Bentonville hasn't increased substitute pay in at least three years, according to Superintendent Michael Poore.

Riggs asked whether the district has considered hiring some people as permanent substitutes who could fill in wherever there is a need.

At one time, every building employed a full-time substitute, but that practice was phased out, Ross said.

The Rogers School District has some days where it's a little short on substitutes, according to Roger Hill, Rogers' assistant superintendent for human resources.

"It's a little bit over a 93 percent fill rate," Hill said. "When we need over 100 substitutes, that's where we tend to run into problems."

Finding substitutes has been a little bit harder this year compared to the past few years, Hill said.

Subteach USA, a company based in Paragould, handles placement of substitute teachers in Bentonville's classrooms. Bentonville entered into a contract with Subteach last year.

The Springdale School District handles substitute placement on its own. It has a substitute coordinator and offers training for first-time applicants, said Jared Cleveland, Springdale's deputy superintendent for personnel. Springdale's fill rate generally is between 96 percent and 98 percent, he said.

"We have a really good group of substitutes, and we're very proud of them," Cleveland said. "That being said, sometimes when there's something going on with the district, like a large professional development event, or the flu is going around, then we struggle to have enough."

In training sessions, Springdale's substitute applicants are given sample lesson plans. They learn about ethics, how to treat children and what the expectations are, Cleveland said.

"It's not a babysitting job. That's not it at all. You are literally a substitute teacher. Instruction must go on," Cleveland said.