AUBURN — So far this year, the School Department is getting 80 to 100 percent of the substitute teachers it needs, thanks to a new online program that tells substitutes when and where they’re needed, Assistant Superintendent Michelle McClellan told the School Committee on Wednesday night.

It’s a big improvement over last year when only 50 to 80 percent of teacher fill-ins were available, she said.

“If the flu hit, it got rough,” she said. “It was discouraging.” When a substitute could not be found, education technicians and administrators were pulled from their normal jobs to take over a class.

Since school started this year, the number of available substitutes has improved dramatically.

“That was surprising,” McClellan said.

The change is because the School Department started using a new automated system, the AESOP Substitute Service. Substitutes are able to log in, see where help is needed and register to teach at a certain school that day.

The system also allows teachers to log in and notify schools they won’t be at work. They can do that at 2 in the morning, or days ahead of when they need to be out for professional development.

The system has also improved lesson plans that substitutes receive. Before, a substitute may not have gotten a lesson plan, or maybe received one 20 minutes before a class began.

Now, teachers can file lesson plans electronically so substitutes can receive them ahead of time, McClellan said.

The system is also saving time for secretaries and administrators.

“Secretaries and administrators were calling, one at a time,” McClellan said. “It was great if they got somebody on the other end, not so great if they had an unanswered call and had to leave a message. They had to wait for someone to call back. It has recovered hours for some of our school personnel.” 

School Committee member Bonnie Hayes asked about the cost.

The AESOP Service cost $6,200 a year. The district used to pay its “sub caller” $7,700 a year, Business Manager Jude Cyr said.

In addition to saving time and money, Hayes said she likes that substitutes now go into classrooms with lesson plans. Without them, she said, “kids can be testing you all day.”

This year, the Lewiston School Department, which also struggled with getting enough substitute teachers, contracted Kelly Educational Services to hire substitutes.

Superintendent Katy Grondin said Auburn still hires its substitutes.

“We still go through the same process of hiring. Michelle clears them,” Grondin said. If a substitute is not performing, there is intervention. If a pattern of nonperformance continues, a substitute is asked not to continue, Grondin said.

McClellan said she initially thought the department didn’t have enough substitute teachers. Now it’s clear the problem was inefficient communication, she said.

Auburn has about 350 teachers and 120 substitute teachers. Substitutes are paid between $70 and $100 a day, depending on their education level and experience.

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AUBURN — From more efficient exterior lighting at the East Auburn School to new bathrooms at Edward Little High School, some $1.5 million worth of improvements were made to schools this summer. The money came from a 2014 bond.

In a report to the School Committee on Wednesday night, Business Manager Jude Cyr went over a list of upgrades. They include:

* Auburn Middle School has new heating, ventilation and air conditioning. Old hallway carpets and asbestos tile beneath them were replaced.

* Edward Little High School’s six bathrooms, three for girls and three for boys, were refurbished. The new bathrooms “are quite a transformation,” Cyr said. Flooring and asbestos were removed in some classrooms and halls, and new exterior security lighting installed.

* Franklin School has new flooring and spruced-up classrooms. “You should stop and see Principal Russ Barlow and take a tour,” Cyr suggested. “We removed all carpets and with the old carpet, old floor tile and asbestos. We now have an asbestos-free building with new colors staff selected. It has really brought new life to the building.”

* Park Avenue Elementary has exterior security lighting; Sherwood Heights Elementary has new stage curtains; Washburn and Fairview have exterior security lighting.

* East Auburn has exterior security lighting and a new fire alarm system that’s connected to the Lewiston-Auburn 911 center.

Some of the work was done by outside companies and some by the department’s five maintenance workers, who did an outstanding job, officials said.

School Committee member Bonnie Hayes praised the department for having the foresight to get new ventilation and air conditioning “for children and teachers who have allergies, and it helps during the hot weather we’ve been having this week.”

Cyr said the district has been installing HVAC systems in schools the past eight years. All Auburn schools except the high school have air conditioning.

Cyr said when he sees new buildings without air conditioning he wonders why, because it’s cost-effective to install.

When Park Avenue Elementary School was built nine years ago, “this community took on that responsibility,” adding $65,000 to the cost.