In the first eight days of November, Norfolk Public Schools had an average of 13 unfilled positions a day, with only 62% of certified positions filled in the district.
These numbers have spiked from October — when NPS had a fill rate of 85% and an average of three unfilled certified positions a day, said Angie Baumann, director of human resources and accreditation.
The severe substitute shortage at Norfolk Public Schools has prompted administration to issue monetary increases to compensate its staff and attract new candidates.
The NPS board of education on Monday approved COVID bonuses and pay raises for substitutes, which will begin the next pay period.
The district has also had certified staff who are not in a teaching role sub in the classrooms for the past several weeks, Baumann said.
“Norfolk Public Schools has continued to have a high demand for substitute teachers and paraprofessionals, since the beginning of the school year,” Baumann said. “As a district, we have struggled to have a sufficient number of substitute teachers and paraprofessionals for several years. The pandemic has magnified this shortage in our district, the state of Nebraska and throughout the country.”
The district is now increasing the bonus for certified substitutes from $150 to $300 if they work 20 days per semester and an additional $300 if they work 40 days per semester.
There also will be an increase for the classified staff rate — which would include employees subbing for absent positions like paraprofessionals or secretaries. There will be a 40 cent per hour increase if they work 20 days per semester and 80 cents an hour for 40 days a semester.
“I think all measures we can look at and reasonably take action on that will help us with keeping our buildings open and keeping our students in school are important,” said Arnie Robinson, board member. “And I appreciate the administration team looking at what our options are, trying to find reasonable, cost-effective ways to give us the best opportunity to keep kids in school.”
Teachers who sub for their coworkers during their own planning periods also will be receiving a pay raise.
The compensation teachers receive will be increased from $20 per class period to 1/7.5 of the base pay for certificated staff, which is currently $27 per hour, said Bill Robinson, associate superintendent.
“I don’t know if this will necessarily increase people to cover, but it’s certainly going to help with people giving up their planning period,” Robinson said. “And it may make it a few more people to help cover, especially right now, when we are using teachers quite a bit. They are coming forward and doing it and so forth, but then they have to plan on their own at home.”
This amount would automatically increase each year based upon the base pay provided to teachers. This will ensure that the amount is proportionate to their overall pay, as negotiated by the Norfolk City Education Association (NCEA).
“I just want to say thank you teachers, because we are keeping our buildings open and we couldn’t do it without you,” said Sandy Wolfe, board president, at Monday’s meeting. “Giving up your planning period is just a small token of what we can do to say thank you because we do appreciate you and we know you are giving it your all. So thank you so much.”
Board members also approved the 2021-22 negotiated compensation agreement for non-supervisory certificated staff, as negotiated by NCEA.
Certificated staff, including teachers, counselors and media specialists, received a total package increase of 3.4%, including a 2.24% salary increase. The base salary for certificated staff is now $37,507, according to the agreement.
The NCEA negotiates with the board of education on a yearly basis for compensation increases, said Kimberly Erickson, NCEA president.
“This is slightly higher than the last couple of years, but there are many things that account for the total package. Including this year, our total package has been anywhere from 3.25% to 3.4%,” Erickson said in an email. “The major focus in most negotiations would be for benefits and salary. NCEA uses a comparability study to analyze where Norfolk sits within our array of schools.”
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November 12, 2020 at 10:10PM
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NPS to give COVID bonuses, pay increases to aid sub shortage - Norfolk Daily News
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