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District partners with Kelley Education to expand substitute pool; fill rate reported at 71% for September
Summary
The board heard a Kelley Education update on substitute staffing: the firm reported a 71% overall fill rate for September requests, lead-time effects on fill rates, and plans to raise the active substitute pool from about 48 toward 75 by December.
The Port Washington-Saukville School District received a presentation from Kelley Education on substitute staffing after the district shifted from internal substitute management.
Sarah Norman Barto, client manager for Kelley Education, told the board the district had 433 absence requests through October 22 compared with about 319 requests in the comparable prior period; Kelley's fill rate for the reported month was about 71%. She said fill rates are higher when absences are entered with more lead time: 66% of district absences were entered more than 24 hours in advance, and the fill rate for those was about 80%.
Kelley reported building-level absence trends (sick leave and approved FMLA patterns), an onboarding pipeline with 10 candidates in process, and net hiring of roughly 24 new substitutes since the partnership began. The vendor said it inherited an initial pool of about 44 prior substitutes, re-engaged 24 and marked about 20 as currently disengaged; the district's active substitute pool stood at about 48 during the report.
Why it matters: The district described the partnership as part of a broader strategy to centralize substitute hiring and reduce human-resource workload at district office. Kelley's stated short-term goal is a substitute pool of about 75 active substitutes by December, and it outlined recruitment channels (local job fairs, college outreach and regional networks).
Board members and staff discussed operational details including the substitute licensure requirements (DPI rules for substitute teaching and para work), the district's cancellation policy (an hour before assignment start), and communication practices (texting and building administrators reallocating subs when assignments change). Trustees asked for ongoing fill-rate reports, building-level breakdowns and continued monitoring of lead-time effects.
Speakers for this item: Sarah Norman Barto (Kelley Education, client manager), Michael (district staff) and district administrators; the board requested continued monthly updates and building-level detail in future reports.
