Responding to a shortage across the region, the Marysville School District is bumping the daily pay for substitute teachers.
At its Thursday night’s meeting, the district’s board of education unanimously approved an increase to $100 per day, up from $90.
“We’ll see if that makes a difference,” Superintendent Diane Mankins said. “It’s more of a supply issue.”
The problem is nothing new. Mankins said that for the past 10 years districts in central Ohio have struggled to attract substitute teachers.
Marysville gets its substitutes from the Educational Service Center of Central Ohio (ESCCO), which also serves Fairbanks, as well as dozens of other districts in area counties including Delaware, Marion, Madison and parts of Franklin counties. ESCCO has a collective list of substitute teachers who are then paired with daily classroom vacancies in the member school.
The available subs can view the available openings for the day and choose where to work.
Mankins said that the sheer number of subs isn’t the problem. The issue is convincing them to accept the positions.
According to Mankins, there are a few factors that lead subs to choose or pass on districts.
Being a bit removed from population centers in Columbus and Delaware works against Marysville in recruiting subs. Positive feedback about area children, when compared with more challenging student bodies, works in favor of Marysville she said.
This is where the local district hopes the additional daily stipend will convince substitutes to pick Marysville.
Mankins said finding available substitutes to fill classroom spots on Mondays and Fridays is the biggest challenge. She added that the months of December and May also seem to traditionally see fewer subs accept positions.
When the district finds itself with an open spot for a day, other teachers in the building will cover the classroom during their free periods. In the elementary schools, students in an open classroom can be divided up into other classrooms for the day.
In both situations, the teachers who help cover are paid additional money.
Mankins said the district has tried to reach out to retired teachers from the area to see if they would work as substitutes to help with the shortage. The superintendent also encouraged anyone interested in becoming a substitute to contact the district central office to receive information.
Substitute teachers in Ohio must have a bachelor’s degree, but it does not need to be in education.
In other business, the board:
•Heard a presentation by Jason Stanford of the Union County Chamber of Commerce about the housing market in Marysville and Union County.
•Honored the Marysville Elks Lodge for its long-time efforts in providing all district third graders with a dictionary.
•Approved board member Dick Smith to travel to Washington D.C. on Feb. 2-4 for the 2020 National School Board Association Advocacy Institute. The Ohio School Board Association will cover the registration fee while the district will cover travel and hotel expenses.
•Approved the renewal of the lease agreement with the Hope Center for the former East Elementary Building. The terms of the contract are the same as previous years. The organization will pay $42,000 per year, but will see a reduction of $8,800 because of the district’s use of space for its TRI Academy.
•Approved several policy and staff related issues.