Board raises substitute secretary pay to $112.50 per day, effective Jan. 1

The St. Joseph School District Board approved a change to the salary schedule that raises the daily rate for substitute secretaries from $105 to $112.50, effective retroactively to Jan. 1. The half-day rate was set at $56.25 to align with the state minimum wage.

Personnel staff explained the change is intended to comply with Missouri’s $15 minimum wage effective Jan. 1 and estimated the cost to the district for secretary substitutes at about $6,000 for the remainder of the school year. Administration noted raising teacher substitute pay districtwide would cost an estimated $33,000 and recommended that any broader change be reviewed by the district’s salary-and-benefits committee ahead of next year’s schedule.

“I am recommending to the board, that you approve the salary schedule as presented for substitute secretaries only from a $105 to $112.50 to get that rate up to $15 per hour,” personnel staff told trustees. The board discussed timing and whether to bring a teacher-substitute recommendation to the March or April meetings; the motion to approve the secretary-substitute increase passed with one dissenting vote.