SPRINGDALE -- Substitute teacher pay is increasing again in Springdale as the School District aims to keep up with pay rates elsewhere in the region.
The School Board on Tuesday unanimously approved an incentive for substitute teachers in the form of an additional $20 per day. The move is retroactive to Dec. 1.
The district previously had this incentive in place but eliminated it at the beginning of this school year, according to Deputy Superintendent Kelly Hayes.
With the change, Springdale's substitute pay will range from $110 to $125 per day, depending on experience and level of education, according to district documents.
The increase brings Springdale in line with what the Bentonville, Fayetteville and Rogers school districts are paying. All three districts have raised their rates within the past two months as they struggle with substitute teacher shortages.
"We're all fighting for the same people obviously, so we want to make sure we're competitive," Hayes told the board.
The incentive is temporary and will be funded using the district's Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief money "until this labor shortage subsides," Hayes wrote in a memo to Superintendent Jared Cleveland.
Valerie Hanna, a kindergarten teacher at Elmdale Elementary School, spoke at Tuesday's board meeting, representing the Springdale Education Association. She told the board she's glad to see the substitute pay incentive coming back.
"Because it's definitely a struggle right now," Hanna said. "I know you guys already know that."
In other business at the meeting, Paul Miller, director of technology, presented an update on new technology the district plans to install on school buses geared toward improving route efficiency and student safety.
Tablets will be mounted at the front of each bus that will provide drivers turn-by-turn directions specific to the routes they are running. If a driver determines a way around that's better than directions the app is giving, the app's directions can be modified, Miller said.
"And so it allows us to kind of tweak what we have going on so it best serves the students and the efficiency of the drivers when they're traveling, so it makes the most of the drivers that we have," he said.
He expects the tablets to begin arriving soon after winter break, he said. Drivers will be trained on how to use them. The district intends to give drivers ample time to adjust to the new system, Miller said.
"We've got some older bus drivers," Miller said. "We want them to be comfortable with using the technology in a way that's seamless while they're driving the bus. Because essentially, it's going to be their navigation while they're moving in the bus, and we don't want it to be a distraction to the drivers."
The second phase of the new system's rollout involves a student check-in and check-out on the buses. Students will scan their identification card as they get on or off the bus.
Through a companion app, parents can be notified their kid has arrived safely at home or at school, Miller said.
"So as a parent it gives you that peace of mind about your student traveling on the bus," he said.