District hears proposal to raise substitute pay to improve fill rates
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Summary
Kelly Education proposed increasing daily substitute and paraprofessional pay to close the district's gap with neighboring counties, saying higher rates improve fill rates, reduce combined classes and lower turnover. Board members asked about certification levels, long-term costs and impacts on permanent staff pay.
Kelly Education presented a pay-increase proposal to the Sumter School District Board of Trustees on May 5, urging the board to raise daily substitute teacher pay from $80 to $95 and increase paraprofessional and custodial substitute hourly rates to better match neighboring districts.
Kelly Education representative Desiree Chase detailed district and regional comparisons, saying Sumter's current daily teacher substitute rate equates to about $10.67 per hour and that "subs are paid, quite low compared to a lot of the local area jobs." Chase said the firm proposes raising the noncertified daily teacher rate to $95 (about $12.67/hour), paraprofessional subs to $12.15/hour and custodial subs to $11/hour to improve applicant volume and fill rates.
The presentation argued higher pay raises fill rates (reducing combined classrooms), lowers turnover and gives principals a larger applicant pool from which to hire. Chase also proposed changes to long-term substitute pay, including raising certified long-term subs to $180 per day.
Board members pressed for details on how many substitutes hold active teaching certificates and how many vacancy assignments Kelly filled. Chase said licensed substitutes were a small share: "I believe it is between 10 and 15 substitutes that we have that are currently licensed teachers." She added Kelly filled roughly 85–100 long-term vacancies in recent years.
Several trustees raised concerns about potential pay compression and how higher substitute rates might compare with salaries of permanent district staff. A trustee noted the district could end up paying substitutes more in some cases than permanent employees and asked how the district would balance markups relative to staff pay; Chase responded that Kelly would not recommend paying substitutes more than permanent employees and said the proposed rates are intended to place Sumter in the mid-range of local market rates.
Trustees also asked whether the district receives Kelly's full survey results; Chase said principals already receive summaries but full survey data was not routinely sent to the board and offered to provide results on request. No vote was taken on the pay proposal during the meeting.
The presentation included data from Indeed and Kelly's internal recruiting records, and Chase said the district's paraprofessional and custodial substitute fill rates were the most challenged areas.
Trustees asked administration to provide comparative staff pay lines and to analyze fiscal and equity impacts before any change to the district pay structure.
Ending: The board did not take action on the pay proposal at the May 5 meeting. Kelly offered to provide additional survey data and principals' fill-rate reports if the board requests them in follow-up.