In another effort to address staffing shortages, this time in “hard-to-fill” positions, Tucson Unified School District increased the daily pay rate for substitutes in certain schools and will shift around several special education teachers to meet needs at other campuses.
The Exceptional Education, or special ed, staff who split their time between two campuses to meet the high demand will be given $1,000 stipends per semester to help cover travel costs and compensate them for the additional work.
Substitutes who cover classes at six chosen schools, which district administrators determined typically have lower sub staffing numbers, will receive an additional $25 to their current $145 daily pay rate for at least the first quarter of the school year.
“I think you’re seeing a theme here: vacancy coverage, vacancy coverage, vacancy coverage,” Superintendent Gabriel Trujillo said Aug. 23 as he briefed board members on the shortages of substitutes and Exceptional Ed teachers.
The increase in daily pay rates is meant to make those schools more attractive for substitutes, Trujillo said, considering that those campuses suffered the highest sub shortages last school year.
It will apply to subs who work at Banks Elementary, Johnson Primary, Lawrence 3-8, Pistor Middle, Valencia Middle and Vesey Elementary schools.
That measure was initially presented as a $15 increase, which Trujillo said still maintained a fair gap between what substitutes and teachers make.
That increase, according to information provided during the meeting, could cost the district up to $47,460 assuming that all the current sub vacancies at those sites are filled.
But board member Sadie Shaw said she doubted such a low increase would make a difference, and she proposed raising that amount to $25.
“My concern is we’re starting to get in the territory of what a fully certified teacher makes on a daily basis,” Trujillo said of Shaw’s proposal. “I can say that this governing board has gone in and adjusted this rate a couple of different times, and money has not solved the problem.”
Still, the board ultimately agreed that raising the rate for the mentioned schools was the main way to make the positions more attractive to teachers and unanimously approved the measure.
District administrators did not state how much the new $25 increase could cost the district altogether if all vacancies are filled.
Trujillo said the plan is for the board to revisit the issue at the start of the second quarter to analyze whether the pay increase has helped with staffing and determine whether there should be changes made to the list of schools eligible for that raise.
Exceptional Education
As for the district’s Exceptional Education program, Trujillo said, some schools have seen a fairly small population in the special ed programs while other schools have seen an increase in demand for those services.
To ensure that all those students are receiving the needed attention and support, up to 14 Exceptional Education staff members with smaller caseloads may be required to divide their time among two campuses to meet needs.
Trujillo said that could include Exceptional Education teachers and paraprofessionals, meaning teacher assistants.
Sabrina Salmon, the district’s senior director of Exceptional Education, said staff assigned to new schools will not be removed from their original assignments.
Instead, teachers with caseloads of under 10 students may be required to divide their time between two campuses if another school is struggling with larger caseloads than the staff can handle.
“We realize it’s a hardship to ask one of our hardworking Ex Ed educators, whether parapro or lead teacher, to make the move from one school that doesn’t necessarily have the large caseload to another school to help educators that might be pushed to the limit with their caseloads,” Trujillo said.
So, to compensate those employees for their added efforts, district staff proposed to provide them with $500 stipends per semester. That would cost the district $14,000 for the academic year, assuming all 14 Ex Ed staff members were assigned to a second school.
But board member Leila Counts said she believed it was fair to pay them a higher amount.
“I just think $500 is a little low, considering that there is the transportation, the driving, and then your mind is split between two different sites, and that’s kind of hard to wrap your head around sometimes,” Counts said, proposing to increase the amount to $1,000 per semester. “This is such specialized work.”
Counts’ proposal was approved unanimously, meaning the measure may now cost the district up to $28,000.
Salmon said the Ex Ed staff assignments may change as the district continues to analyze its enrollment and staffing levels during the school year to adjust its resources accordingly.
