Weston board reviews substitute staffing, pay rates and how substitute funds are budgeted

Julie, the staff member handling substitute questions, explained the district’s substitute structure and rates: daily substitute teachers are paid $123 per day, building substitutes (full-time staff deployed across classrooms) earn $130 per day, and substitute paraeducators are paid $16.94 per hour to align with state minimum wage. She said building substitutes become eligible for employee-only health benefits after a 90-day probationary period and that currently one building substitute is enrolled in benefits.

"Our daily substitute teacher rate ... is $123 a day," Julie said, and she described the longer-term budgeting approach: the district maintains a consistent substitute 'pool' number across budget cycles and reallocates among daily, building and long-term substitute lines as needs arise.

Board members pressed for more detail about multi-year actuals versus budget, the growth in long-term substitute costs, and whether a constant substitute budget acts as a built-in cushion. Administration explained that actual substitute spending has sometimes exceeded budget in recent years and that the long-term substitute line has grown because some long-term assignments carry higher pay; the FY27 requested number was described as conservative but intended to reflect observed needs.

Julie and Phil offered to supply multi-year actuals and trends on staff attendance and substitute usage to clarify whether teacher absence has trended higher in recent years and to show how long-term-substitute costs have affected the pool. The board asked for that longer-run data to be posted with the budget Q&A.