LANSING, Mich. — Officials with the Lansing School District say they need more substitute teachers and they’re willing to pay more money to get them, up to $300 a day.
“Just like every other district, we are facing a substitute teacher shortage,’ said Executive Director of Human Resources Suzy Corbin.
Corbin said the pandemic has made it hard for the district to find qualified subs.
“I think a lot of it is just coming back to school in person, coming back face to face and the heightened numbers of COVID,” she said.
Corbin said she understands being a substitute during these troubling times can be hard, which is why the district has decided to increase the pay.
In 2019 , the district paid each substitute teacher $90 a day. In 2020, subs were paid $150. Now, the district is paying $200 a day. Substitute teachers at Gardner Elementary School, Dwight Rich School of the Arts and Everett High School will be making a little more.
“Those are our largest populated schools and any absences has an impact in our student learning. So we wanted to make sure we had as much coverage in those schools as we could. So we are paying those subs $300 a day,” Corbin said.
The district needs about 100 substitute teachers a day. Right now, they’re getting around 70.
“We do utilize EDUStaff. They supply us daily staff and the district also hires what we call guest teachers which are district staff that gets assigned daily as substitute teachers,” Corbin said.
Each substitute teacher must have at least 60 college credits and pass a background check. EduStaff, where they say they don't have a substitute shortage, said their substitute teachers must undergo two hours of in-person training and two and a half hours of virtual training, bringing the total hours of training close to five.
The district said all substitute teachers who aren't vaccinated are required to take a daily COVID-19 test.