NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The public schools are hoping to recruit and retain substitute teachers by bumping up their pay.
The School Committee earlier this month approved increasing the pay scale by $35 to $55 a day and creating a new base of $130 for substitutes with fewer credentials.
"It's been very hard to get substitutes. Many substitutes sign up to sub in multiple districts, and so in order to remain competitive ... we really needed to kind of align our expectations for substitutes, as well as the salary with our neighboring districts," said Superintendent Barbara Malkas.
Nancy Rauscher, director of school finance and operations, said she had contacted business administrators at other schools to work out what they were paying substitutes.
"I did a blend, and it was Lenox, Mount Greylock and Hoosac Valley, and we're landing somewhere right in the middle," she said. "Mount Greylock is at the highest and then Lenox and Hoosac Valley are lower."
Mount Greylock is paying $210 for a certified/retired teacher, Hoosac $140 and Lenox $150, with less for just a college degree. North Adams has been paying a straight $115 per diem and $130 for permanent daily subs.
The new scale increases the per diem and permanent to $150 with college degree or $170 for certified/retired teachers.
A permanent daily sub is a full-time employee who works five days a week and receives benefits. Per diems work up to three days a week.
A new base at $130 allows for at least 48 college credits or passing the ParaPro Assessment, required for teaching assistants.
"One of the objectives was to literally increase the pool of substitutes available to us," said Rauscher. "What we did is we took a look at some of the local districts and their configurations, and also what their scales look like. And one of the decisions that was made was to actually eliminate the criteria of having to have a college degree to be a substitute teacher."
She estimated the total cost for the raises at $55,000, or about one full-time teaching equivalent.
Committee member Richard Alcombright asked which category took the most positions; Assistant Superintendent Timothy Callahan responded, "the problem is we don't have any subs."
But he estimated most would fall in the "college degree" category though the school system hasn't been making that distinction in hiring.
"They tend not to be certified. We haven't had the credential lowered to just a ParaPro ... we're hoping that that will open our pool," Callahan said. "But the reality is, myself, Barbara, the principals, are subbing for these classes right now, so it is a less expensive option."
Malkas said the contract allows for teaching assistants to cover for a teacher, "to sub in effect, so this amount aligns to the in-district TA who has the same credentials as our first per diem category. ...
"So it only makes sense that if we feel that the classroom can be subbed with an existing TA, with that level of credential, that that also be available to individuals who have decided to sign up to be a per diem."
In other business:
• The committee approved school improvement plans and contract language for salary differentials of $3,760 for certified support services (occupational and physical therapists, speech language pathologists and teachers of visually impaired).
Malkas said this for recruitment and retention as North Adams is not only competing with other school districts but health-care establishments as well.
• Accepted a $500 donation to the Drury band from 1Berkshire Strategic Alliance Inc. and donations of $5,000 each from the Ruth Proud Trust and from an anonymous donor to benefit the afterschool ski club for Grades 3 to 6.
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NAFD/NAPD Forces Championship Final in Women's League
By Stephen DravisiBerkshires.com Sports
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. – North Adams Fire Department/Police Department scored three runs in the top of the sixth to take a one-run lead and held on for a 5-4 win over Belle Ame Lashes in the championship round of the North Adams Women’s Softball League.
Carrie Brassard went 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI and Kenzie Dobbert recorded a pair of strikeouts as NAFD/ NAPD forced a winner-take-all finale on Tuesday night to conclude the double-elimination tournament.
It was a pitchers’ duel early between Lashes’ Sarah Sweet and Dobbert, who started a 1-3 double play on a line drive back to the circle and speared another line drive for the third out in the third inning.
Sweet got out of a jam after putting runners on first and second to start the third with three straight outs to help keep it a 0-0 game going to the fourth.
In the top of the fourth, the first responders scored the game’s first two runs.
Heather Morris got things started with a leadoff single to left and moved into scoring position on Brassard’s single.
Morris came home when Anna Dix singled up the middle, and an infield error allowed NAFD/NAPD to score its second run.
Andrew Fitch, currently a city councilor in the district's largest municipality — and the commonwealth's smallest city — is challenging former North Adams Mayor John Barrett III, who won the First Berkshire seat in a 2017 special election, in the Democratic Party primary. click for more
In preparation for the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, the Fire Department wanted to clean up the side yard where it typically holds a remembrance ceremony. click for more
Gov. Maura Healey took some time out of her campaign swing through the Berkshires on Monday to tour the under construction $65 million Greylock School project. click for more
