NASHUA – The Nashua School District spent $1.03 million paying substitute teachers in the 2012-12 school year, about 1 percent of its total fiscal 2013 operating budget.
Substitutes in the city were paid for a total of more than 12,000 full school days last year, according to data from the School District in response to a Right to Know request by The Telegraph.
The average substitute teacher is paid $62 per day for his or her work in the city, a rate that has remained stable for about 30 years.
Long-term substitutes, those in a classroom for more than 20 consecutive days who must be a certified teacher, can be paid a starting teacher’s salary on their 21st day in the city, according to district policy.
If the superintendent’s fiscal 2014 budget is approved by the Board of Education – including an increased per diem rate of $65 – the city could be doling out about $40,000 more in substitute teacher pay next year, even if the rate of teacher absences remains unchanged.
Superintendent Mark Conrad said the costs are simply part of doing business in a school system.
“If you have a critical service where you have to have someone present in a position, there’s always a cost to bring in a substitute,” he said. “It’s an expected cost of doing business and it always has been.
“We look for whether there is a pattern over time in increases in those costs, and I don’t think we’ve seen that.”
With 5.3 percent of teachers absent on a given day nationally, stipends for substitute teachers and associated administrative costs amount to at least $4 billion annually, according to a report from the Center for American Progress.
And there are other costs tied to teacher attendance, including payouts of accumulated, unused leave upon retirements or annual bonuses some districts award to discourage unnecessary absences.
In Nashua, up to 100 sick days can be cashed in as part of a teacher’s severance upon retirement. In fiscal 2014, the district expects to hand out nearly $700,000 in severance to retiring teachers.
Teacher absenteeism has begun to attract more attention among educators and researchers in recent years as studies have shown that teacher absentee rates can have a negative effect on student achievement.
While calling in sick or taking a personal day isn’t unique to educators, the costs that come from those absences are.
“It’s very costly to not have laborers show up, but it’s even more costly for schools,” University of New Hampshire professor Joe Onosko said. “Schools end up paying extra money each day (for substitutes).![]()
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