Daily pay for substitute teachers in Indian Prairie District 204 is going up from $100 to $115 this fall so the district can remain competitive in a tight substitute market, school officials say.
Superintendent Adrian Talley said Indian Prairie is in dire need of more substitutes.
“This again is a national shortage,” he said. “Without substitute coverage, we would not be able to do the things that need to happen in our schools.”
A study conducted last fall by the Illinois Association of Regional Superintendents of Schools found 96% of school districts surveyed believed they have a substitute teacher shortage problem and 90% of districts reported the substitute shortage continues to get worse.
To address the problem, many schools are forced to enlist other teachers or administrators to fill the gaps.
According to the survey, 80% of responding superintendents reported using existing teachers during their prep time and 56% tapped administrators to deal with substitute shortages.
Naperville’s two school districts are among largest employers in Naperville, according to Naperville Development Partnership figures.
The two districts — Indian Prairie 204 with 3,140 workers and Naperville 203 with 2,531 — employ more staff combined than No. 1 Edward Hospital and Health Services with 4,940 workers.
Louis Lee, District 204’s assistant superintendent for Human Resources, said they continue to have challenges in filling teaching and support staff positions with qualified substitutes.
“This challenge is not unique to our district, as Dr. Talley mentioned. School districts across our immediate area, state and national and nation continue to experience staffing and substitute teacher shortage,” Lee said.
Last school year the average daily fill rate for substitutes fell below 75%, he said.
Increasing the pay another $15 will allow the district to remain competitive with neighboring districts, he said.
The school board voted 5-0 Monday in favor of the hike, with board President Laurie Donahue and board member Allison Fosdick abstaining because both have signed up to work as substitute teachers in the district.
Indian Prairie encourages applicants to become more than a daily substitute.
Substitute teachers who graduate from Indian Prairie’s Guest Teacher Academy are paid $120 per day.
Dedicated building substitutes receive $175 a day, and retired teachers and substitutes covering for the same teacher for an extended period receive $270 a day.
In neighboring Naperville School District 203, substitute teachers are paid $110 per day with opportunities for long-term assignments at a higher daily rate.
To entice people to choose District 203, substitutes receive a $100 bonus for every 10 days they work, according to district information.
Wheaton-Warrenville District 200 pays its substitutes $115 a day while permanent substitutes receive $125 and long-term subs get $145.
Both Plainfield District 202 and Valley View District 365 pay $130 per day.
District 202 increases the daily rate to $150 after 50 days and $190 per day after 90 days.
In Valley View, pay rises to $210 per day after 60 days in the district.
The basic rate for a substitute teacher in Oswego District 308 is $125 per day with $100 bonuses after 30, 60, 75 and 90, 105 and 120 days.
Dedicated building substitutes are paid $150 a day.
subaker@tribpub.com
