The Shawano School Board signed off with an agency that is expected to ease the burden of finding substitute teachers.
Teachers on Call was approved by a 5-0 vote Dec. 11 as board members Jeana Winslow and Christine McKinnies were absent from the meeting, and John Arens and Al Pyatskowit left the meeting early. The program is expected to cost over $100,000 in a single year but is expected to provide a larger substitute pool and avoid tapping existing staff to take on extra duties.
Working with Teachers on Call would include a dedicated person to oversee efforts to get substitutes when they are needed, according to Nicole Hartlaben, district human resources director, but it would continue to use the automated system teachers use when they inform the district they will be absent. Teachers on Call would take over the payroll for substitute teachers, and the district has to option to cancel its contract on 30 days’ notice.
“We’ve met with the finance committee twice on this, and we’ve met with our current sub pool and given them the opportunity to look at this,” Hartlaben said.
Rosie Thiel, the district’s current substitute coordinator, eagerly welcomes the help. She informed the board that, while waiting for the agenda item to come up, she was in the audience trying to get substitutes for the next day.
“The problem is, when I started 10 years ago, we had three secretaries who were able to call somebody and say, ‘Hey, I’ve got an opening. Blah, blah. Can you fill it?’” Thiel said. “We went down to two secretaries, and now you’re down to me doing that job.”
Thiel said Teachers on Call would be a benefit if the agency can find more people to fill the substitute pool. Like other districts, finding people to fill the void on short-term and long-term substitutions has required some effort, many times without success.
“Right now, what scares me is that you see people out there with job fairs saying, ‘Come work for us,’ and they’re not getting people,” Thiel said. “If this can get more people in for us, I think it’s going to be a good deal. The scary thing for me right now is if something happens to me, there’s no backup except for secretaries that have to do what I do. Their plates are pretty full right now as it is.”
Thiel noted she spent four hours the previous day trying to fill vacancies for the week and was not able to resolve the shortfalls. She said that, even though Teachers on Call is taking over, the agency still wants to work with her to better fill the gaps.
Superintendent Kurt Krizan pointed out that there was one pay period where 64 substitute teachers were needed for the district, and 30 vacancies went unfilled, which is almost half.
“That was our teachers who needed to fill those pieces or our interventionists and whoever else,” Krizan said. “When you think that half of those are high school and middle school — they teach three periods a day — and you have close to 60 people who are affected by unfilled vacancies.”
Krizan and Hartlaben told the board it is unclear whether long-term substitutes would remain on the district’s payroll or work for Teachers on Call. Nearby Marion and Oconto Falls school districts currently use the agency for its substitute needs, but the Shawano district was first introduced to Teachers on Call through Marinette.
“I want to keep them (long-term subs) on with us, but if they want benefits, I think they should have the opportunity to work for Teachers on Call,” Hartlaben said.
The $100,000 that the district will pay includes a 30% upcharge on payroll, according to Hartlaben. In addition to the annual cost, there will be a $2,500 setup fee for the district.
Board member Bobbi Lemerond said that, if things don’t work out with Teachers on Call, the situation the district is in would necessitate hiring additional people to coordinate subs.
“If we’re willing to spend an extra $100,000 a year, we could hire two new people at $50,000 a year to help,” Lemerond said. “If this doesn’t work, we need to hire some help.”
The district had 12 substitutes working long term for the 2022-23 school year due to unfilled teacher positions, according to Thiel, and this year there are nine. She believes filling teacher positions will help to ease the sub shortage in the process.
“That’s not the trend I’m seeing,” Thiel said.
lpulaski@newmedia-wi.com
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