Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Staffing Pay topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Board approves 3% raise for substitutes and long-term substitutes amid staffing and budget questions
Summary
The board approved a 3% across-the-board increase for substitute teachers and teaching assistants as part of the consent agenda. District officials said substitutes are still paid below some comparable districts; substitutes and long-term substitutes remain a key staffing and budget concern.
The Urbana School District board approved a 3 percent increase to daily substitute and long-term substitute pay for fiscal year 2026 as part of the consent agenda.
Angie (human-resources administrator) told the board the district had not raised substitute and teaching-assistant pay in recent years and requested a 3 percent increase to keep the district competitive. She described the recommendation as aligned with CPI and consistent with recent nonunion staff adjustments. Under the current structure presented, a daily substitute rate in Urbana is $160 a day and a long-term substitute (covering a teacher position) is $240 a day; Unit 4 (a neighboring district) pays about $175 and $253.90 for comparable categories, staff said. A 3 percent bump would move a $240 long-term substitute to about $247.20 per day.
Administrators framed the raise within broader efforts to reduce vacancies and improve retention. Mary Anne (finance) provided district retention figures: 80 percent teacher retention from 2022—2023, 87 percent retention from 2023—2024, and 88 percent retention from 2024—2025 to the current year. Mary Anne also said the district paid about $2.3 million in substitute-teacher costs last year, while long-term substitute totals had fallen from 89 in 2022—2023 to 75 in 2023—2024 and 27 currently.
Board members asked whether the 3 percent raise would be sufficient relative to neighboring districts and whether targeted higher pay for hard-to-fill assignments (such as certain middle-school roles or special-education positions) was warranted. Administrators said differentiated pay and recruitment bonuses had been negotiated previously and remain an option to target critical roles; the district has some recruitment/retention stipends available under recent contracts for hard-to-fill positions.
The proposed raise was included in the consent agenda and adopted by roll call along with other routine personnel and administrative approvals. Staff said they would continue to monitor staffing and market rates and return to the board as needed.
