The Naperville District 203 School Board is considering a plan to boost substitute teacher wages to better ensure that those teachers who need subs are able to receive them.
The board also is considering a pay hike for its crossing guards, seasonal custodians, print shop summer help, district student employees and other employees who are not under a union contract.
Bob Ross, the district’s chief human resources officer, said the pay increase for substitutes is the latest of several incentives the district is offering to encourage more people to sign on to fill in when teachers cannot work.
In the fall, D203 was able to cover about 87% rate of teacher absences by employing substitutes, Ross said.
“That’s not great,” he said. “That sub rate should be 100%.”
If approved by the board, substitute teacher pay would increase by $5 to $130 per day for the 2024-25 school year.
Indian Prairie School District 204 pays their substitute teachers $120 per day, Ross said.
The district has been working to market itself to substitutes through a variety of incentives, including offering its retirees $175 per day to fill in when needed and paying a $100 bonus to substitutes who have worked 10 days.
“It gives them reason to say yes to us instead of to other districts,” Ross said.
Only a few years ago, the daily substitute rate was $110 per day.
Board member Amanda McMillen said there’s a systemic issue with teacher shortages and substitute shortages across the nation.
There are also fewer teacher vacancies and teachers who are working as substitutes to get their foot in the door, Superintendent Dan Bridges said.
The district has more than 600 subs within its pool, Bridges said.
“We will continue to look at options so we can increase our pool and more importantly our fill rate,” he said.
Pay for crossing guards and other workers is to go up by $1 an hour in anticipation of the increase in minimum wage, which is to climb to $15 per hour on Jan. 1, 2025.
All of the pay changes would go into effect July 1. The increases will cost the district an additional $139,615, with $90,000 of that going to the escalation in substitute pay.
The board is also considering a proposal to increase the general and participation school fees to keep up with rising costs.
Chief Financial Officer Michael Frances said that general fees have been the same since at least the 2007-08 school year, the last year for which data was available.
Proposed monthly preschool fees at Ann Reid Preschool would go from $255 to $265 for the half-day program and from $560 to $580 for the full-day program.
General school fees would increase by $6 for kindergarten through high school.
Bridges said the District 203 fees are among the lowest of benchmark districts.
District officials said teachers, social workers, counselors and other staff work with families who are unable to afford school fees.
The board is expected to vote on all the proposals at its Feb. 20 meeting.
Michelle Mullins is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.
