If throwing money at a problem guarantees it will be solved, then Arlington Public Schools’ challenges in recruiting and retaining substitute teachers may soon be a thing in the past.
The county school system on Nov. 1 launched a new pay scale for substitutes, as well as initiating a bonus plan for those who stick around for specific time periods.
Finding and keeping substitutes has been “a real challenge and a concern,” Superintendent Francisco Durán acknowledged at the Oct. 28 School Board meeting.
“We will now be the highest paid in Northern Virginia for substitutes – we were like fourth or fifth,” he said.
The previous pay scale ranged from $15.59 per hour, depending on the type of position. The new scale will range from $18 to $28, plus bonuses of $50 and $100 when employees surpass specific numbers of days in the classroom.
School systems across the region had trouble recruiting substitutes during the period when students were locked out of classes owing to COVID. The period since hasn’t proved much easier.