Finding substitute teachers is an ongoing problem in all four Tri-Town school districts, and the Rochester School Committee on January 7 was the first district to officially adopt a measure to increase substitute teacher and paraprofessional pay by $5 in the hopes that it will attract more candidates.
Before the vote, Superintendent Doug White stressed the importance of creating a larger substitute teacher pool and the factors that may be keeping the Tri-Town districts’ sub pool further in the shallow end.
“We continue to find ourselves in a position of not having enough subs and not having enough coverage when teachers are out,” White stated. “Our rate of pay may be something of an issue.”
The current rate for substitute paraprofessionals is $60, non-certified teachers is $65, and certified teachers is $70. White proposed a $5 increase in each category, commenting that it had been quite some time since the rate district-wide had been increased.
Furthermore, other surrounding school districts utilize a digital portal system for employing substitute teachers, where potential employees can view online a list of available assignments and pick and choose according to their desired specifications of the jobs.
White said another factor that could be limiting the substitute teacher pool is the cost those employees would incur for state-mandated fingerprinting to be eligible for placement in the role of substitute teacher.
“I will say that anecdotally there have been conversations about fingerprinting … and that’s a cost out of their pocket,” said White. The current cost is $35 for non-licensed teachers and $55 for licensed teachers, White said.
Another factor, White pointed out, could be the state increase of the minimum wage to $10, which would render the hourly rate for a substitute paraprofessional substantially lower, for example.
“So we have to consider that and what we are paying subs,” said White. “We only have eleven substitutes on our (district-wide) list currently that we can pull from on a daily basis…. We need a bigger pool considering our needs.”
The typical school district, according to School Committee member Sharon Hartley, is about 40 to 50 substitute teachers on their list.
“That is the number to a school that is very near us,” said Hartley, “so the number that we have is also a concern, I think.”
On any given day, White said Rochester Memorial School requires 2.6 substitute teachers on average. There simply is not enough interest in filling those assignments, White conceded.
Hartley suggested approving the $5 increase for the remainder of the school year with the chance to revisit the matter in regards to another rate increase for September as budgets are built over the next few weeks.
All districts must approve the pay increase before it can take effect district-wide.
In other matters, RMS Principal Derek Medeiros presented the committee with the results of the state 2015 Accountability Report that show student growth continues to go up, although results keep RMS as a Level 2 school.
The all-student category did not meet the target of 75, with a total of 68; however, the high-needs student category did meet the 75 target with a score of 78. Students with disabilities just missed the mark with a score of 74.
Medeiros said, despite the rigor of the new PARCC exam that was piloted this year, this was the best the school had performed so far.
“We did not meet the targets, but we can see some significant improvement,” said Medeiros. “If we can sustain what we are doing … we feel that we’ll get our building into the Level 1 status that we are all hoping for.
Also during the meeting, Business Administrator Patrick Spencer gave the committee a brief introduction to the progress of the fiscal year 2017 budget. As of that day, the district is looking at an approximate $90,000 increase, roughly $40,000 in regular education and just under $50,000 in special education, to maintain a level-service budget.
In other business, Assistant Superintendent Elise Frangos described an ongoing discussion about changing the Grade 1-6 report card format, hoping to move away from the “A,B,C,D,F” format to a more standards-based report card similar to what kindergarten students currently receive.
“To keep it simple, yet informative, so that parents know what to do to help their children at home,” Frangos said.
White also informed the committee on the state’s new PARCC testing sessions, which will be limited to one session per day during the testing window of April 25 to June 6.
Grade 3 will have two 90-minute timed sessions to finish their tests and one 75-minute session in ELA, and three 60-minute sessions in Math.
Grades 4 and 5 will have three sessions of 90 minutes to finish the test in ELA, and three 60-minute sessions for Math.
Grade 6 will have two 110-minute and one 90-minute testing period, and three 80-minute testing periods on Math.
“Sounds like it didn’t go on much of a diet, did it?” Frangos said to School Committee members who reacted to the amount of sessions with a degree of shock.
Frangos assured them, though, that the sessions were only the amount of time allotted to complete the exam, with most students finishing earlier with enough time to read their personal books until the session ends.
The next meeting of the Rochester School Committee is scheduled for February 4 at 6:30 pm at the Rochester Town Hall.
By Jean Perry
