The Sulphur Springs Union School District board voted Wednesday night to amend its substitute salary schedule along with an increase in its bus driver signing bonus due to a need for staff amid a shortage of substitutes and bus drivers.
Members of the governing board voted to amend its substitute teacher salary schedule for long-term substitute teachers and for substitutes who serve in a single classroom for 20 or more consecutive days.
According to the agenda, a general education substitute teacher will earn a daily rate of $180 for a full day and $98 for a half day. The hourly rate for this position would be $24 an hour.
Special education substitute teachers are set to earn a daily rate of $190 for a full day and $105 for a half day. The hourly rate for this position will now be $25.33.
In addition, a general education substitute teacher filling in for a teacher attending a training will earn a daily rate of $195 for a full day, and a special education substitute teacher filling in for the same reason will earn $200 for a full day.
Both positions covering a half day for a teacher attending a training will be $110, according to the item.
The governing board also approved an agreement between the district and California School Employees Association Chapter No. 298 regarding hiring bonuses for bus drivers and bus driver trainers.
The district will provide a bonus of $3,000 for bus drivers, which was previously set at $1,000, and $5,000 for bus driver trainers, which was previously set at $2,000.
According to the staff report, the increase in wages is due to shortage of substitutes and bus driver personnel. With these actions, the district is providing competitive salaries compared to other districts, not just only in the Santa Clarita Valley, to attract new hires.
