December 7, 2023 at 6:00 PM - Board of Education (Resource Management & Business Operations Committee Meeting

Rationale:  Next year, we are planing to offer a full day 4-year-old program and a Transitional Kindergarten program through Circle of Friends.  Students who are not eligible to receive special education services are required to pay tuition in order to participate in the program.  We propose the following tuition rates for the 2024-2025 school year.

3-Year-Old Program - Half Day
2023 - 2024 Rate: $275 per month
2024 - 2025 Rate: $275 per month

4-Year-Old & Transitional Kindergarden Programs
2023 - 2024 Half Day: $325 per month
2024 - 2025 Full Day: $700 per month

Rationale:  Minimum wage will increase on January 1st.  We need to increase or substitute pay rates in order to be compliant and to remain competitive in our region.  We propose the following increases to be effective on 1/1/2024.

Daily Substitutes 
Current rate: $100 per day
Proposed rate: $120 per day

Building Substitutes
Current rate: $110 per day
Proposed rate: $130 per day

Mr. Foster asked some additional questions and the answers, provided by Ms. Rudinas, are below:  

Fill Rate?
1. Our fill rate is averaging around 78% this year, which is about the average of what we have been running. Some days are lower, some days are higher. We average around 35 subs needed per day. We have 30 building substitutes between the 5 schools and COF, however we have 5 unfilled building substitute positions right now. We are averaging 10 subs short each day, sometimes more if a building sub is absent. During COVID our regular substitute pool diminished significantly and we have been working to build it back up so we have people to draw from to improve the fill rate. There is a substitute shortage State wide. It is not just a Bethel issue. We have been more fortunate than many districts, because we have a good number of building substitutes. We have been having difficulty hiring, particularly this year, because the rate is low. I have had several people turn down an offer of employment because they can make more elsewhere. 

Length of Day
2. A substitute works 6.5 hours per day, with a half hour unpaid lunch. $100 daily rate equates to $15.38 per hour, so we have to increase the rate. We did increase the rates for most of last year. We only increased it for the last few weeks of school because of the minimum wage increase that hit July 1st. 
      19-20 $85 for regular sub, $95 for building sub
      20-21 $90 for regular sub, $100 for building sub
      21-22 $95 for regular sub, $105 for building sub
      22-23 rate stayed the same for most of the year. In June rates increased to $100 for regular sub, $110 for building sub, in anticipation of the increase in minimum wage. 
      23-24 $100 for regular sub, $110 for building sub. 
Substitutes are key to helping the schools to run smoothly. Building subs cover something different every day, sometimes in more than one area. They need to be flexible, able to adjust to different expectations and become part of the team in their building. We only have the students for 181 days, so every day is an important day. We expect that learning will still happen when a substitute steps in for the day. Whether we have a building substitute or a regular substitute in the classroom, they are working hard and teaching the lessons that have been provided to them. If we want to attract good candidates, we need to pay them a competitive wage. Another important consideration is that we have hired many of our building substitutes and regular substitutes into regular positions as paraeducators, secretaries and even teachers. 

Impact to Budget
3. The new rates would increase our costs for substitutes by approximately $63,000. We don't have as many student interns this year, so the savings from not paying the universities for the interns will offset most of the increase in the cost for the substitutes. We would incorporate the increase into our budget going forward. 

 Should we wait to implement it?  
4. We are not competitive now, so I would not recommend a small increase now and then review it again in March. Most of our substitutes have at least a bachelor's degree and several of them are certified teachers. We want to attract quality candidates for the substitute positions
 

Rationale:  At our last Board of Education meeting, the discussion about pay-to-play was tabled to the RMBO meeting to make a recommendation to the full Board.  Linked is a presentation that will be discussed to provide an overview of the dues and fees charged to families and cost associated with placement into the operating budget.   The RMBO Committee will need to make a recommendation to the full board if they want us to include it in the budget.