Lindsey Laramie, math teacher, was absent for 10 days during September and another 8 after Winter Break.  

“Unfortunately, half the time I was gone I didn’t have a sub, and my poor coworkers were trying to cover my class,” Laramie said.

Teachers subbing for a class means that a teacher gives up their planning period, which is one of the only times during the day that they can get work done such as lesson planning and grading, Laramie said.

Many teachers, like Laramie, have been struggling with an ongoing sub shortage. 

In order to combat this shortage, many schools have re-evaluated their sub-pay.

Dr. Tracy Edwards, director of human resources, said RSD has increased its pay recently from $98 last year to $101 this year. This increase was based on ED+ Comparable data, where other districts submit their salary information, and Rockwood bases their rates on that data.

Dr. Edwards said this change in salary did not have a significant increase in the number of subs in the district, but RSD has continued to publicize on their website and utilized social media to try to get more subs to work.

“The communications department has been awesome with putting things on social media,” Dr. Edwards said.

This year there was no additional pay for retired RSD teachers, but next year the district plans to increase retired teacher sub pay by $14 more than a sub who isn’t an RSD retiree. Dr. Edwards said she hopes this will encourage more subs to apply.

“It has impacted teachers when we are short subs, and they have to step forward and help which, of course, we are greatly, greatly appreciative of,” Dr. Edwards said.

The Ritenour School District recently increased their sub pay to $140 per day, which is more than many other local districts. They also have a separate pay rate for retired Ritenour teachers at $180 per day, according to the Ritenour School District’s website.

“We want the subs to not only come and apply for a position but stay and continue working,” Jamie Sims, HR assistant for the Ritenour School District, said.

Sims also said it would be good for other districts to increase their pay because if one district gains a large number of subs, it will affect other districts because many subs will work for more than one district.

“If the increase was across the board, that would bring in a larger pool of applicants that you can choose from,” Sims said.

Earl Sandroff, RSD substitute, said he has had no problem finding job opportunities this year as there are always subs needed at school.

“With the shortage, you want to bring people in, and what better way to do it than offer them a higher incentive?” Sandroff said.

He said  RSD’s pay increase could have been higher though something is better than nothing.

Joseph Wehrle, a sub who has worked at all four RSD high schools, said he has experienced a drop in competition when it comes to finding subbing jobs in various districts compared to years prior.

Wehrle said that since he started subbing 10 years ago, pay has increased by at least 15-16 percent. He also said he is content with RSD pay, as it is competitive with local districts.

“The private schools don’t pay quite as much as Rockwood,” Wehrle said. “So I do like Rockwood for that reason.”