In an effort to retain retired district educators as substitutes amid an ongoing teacher shortage, East Aurora School District 131 is increasing retiree substitutes’ daily pay.
Now, educators who retire from working for the district but return to substitute teach will earn $180 per day, up from $150, following unanimous approval from the district’s school board on Nov. 17.
After 20 consecutive days in the same assignment at a school, that daily rate increases to $271.78, per a memo from the district. Subs also receive a $300 bonus after 90 days of service in any combination of assignments.
At a district Finance Committee meeting in early November, East Aurora’s Associate Superintendent of Staff and Student Services David Ballard indicated that the increase in pay for retirees is meant to retain and increase the district’s substitute pool.
“As we know, we’ve got a teacher shortage,” Ballard said. “We also have a substitute shortage.”
East Aurora has been facing a persistent shortage of teaching staff, as have districts across the state.
With several dozen teacher vacancies as of 2024, East Aurora has temporarily filled the gaps through alternative measures like offering paid extra assignments for existing staff and paying for contractual staff. Hiring long-term substitutes is another way it has addressed the shortage in the district.
The district has said that it hopes the rate increase approved Nov. 17 will help it “maintain continuity of instruction” and retain substitutes “with deep knowledge of our schools and students.”
The district currently has about 21 retirees working as substitute teachers, according to Ballard.
“We certainly want to honor their service, and we also want to attract future retirees and also increase our … substitute pool,” he said.
Ballard clarified that the new rate would only apply to retirees who worked in the district.
This type of pay scale is not unique to East Aurora, and the district has indicated that the change will help it remain competitive with other districts.
Long-term subs and district retiree substitute teachers at nearby Indian Prairie 204, for example, earn $310 per day, more than double its standard daily substitute rate. St. Charles 303 similarly pays retiree substitutes $200 daily, compared to $145 for non-retirees, per the district’s most recent substitute handbook.
And the rate hike will likely have long-term benefits in terms of attracting subs, according to East Aurora Superintendent Bob Halverson, since the district has about 60 teachers set to retire this coming year.
“We’re going to lose a lot of our institutional knowledge that goes with that,” Halverson said. “So the more we can do to keep those individuals working with us and continuing to come back to benefit our students, it’s definitely going to be helpful for us in the future as well.”
mmorrow@chicagotribune.com
