JAY — Regional School Unit 73 board of directors on Thursday evening, Dec. 12, approved the current pay rate for substitutes for the second half of the school year.

Effective Jan. 1-June 30, 2025, teacher rates will remain $130 per day [seven hours] with no college experience, $135 per day with two or more years of college and $140 per day with a bachelor’s degree. A half day is four hours or less.

Pay for long term substitutes will be $140 per day with two or more years of college, $165 per day with a bachelor’s degree and $228.23 per day if certified.

For education technician substitutes, pay will be $115 for a six hour day and $58 for 3.5 hours or less.

The hourly rate for other substitutes will remain $16 for food service and secretaries, $18 for bus monitors and custodians, and $21 for bus drivers.

Those amounts were approved by directors on Aug. 22 and also on Dec. 13, 2023.

In June of 2022 directors approved increasing the pay for all substitutes and bus monitors for the coming school year, the second year in a row raises were approved.

At that time, substitutes with no degree were raised to $130 per day, an increase of $6 over 2021 and $39 more than in 2020. Pay for those with two or more years of college rose to $135 per day, an increase of $4 and $37, respectively. Those with a college degree went to $140 per day, an increase of $2 and $35, respectively.

Pay for substitutes with two or more years of college needed for extended periods received $140 per day, an increase of $2 and $35, respectively. Those with a bachelor’s degree went to $165 per day, an increase of $6 and $39, respectively. Pay for certified extended substitutes rose to $221 per day, increases of $11.63 and $15.74, respectively.

“We are just trying to keep up, trying to balance out, stay close to what everybody else is doing in the area,” Superintendent Scott Albert said in 2022.

In Oct. 2020, Albert announced the district was in need of substitutes and had increased their pay due to COVID-19.

Albert said then the new substitute pay was $124 per day for those without a degree, $131 with two or more years college and $138 for those with a bachelor’s degree. After 10 days in the same position, those with a degree would be paid $159 per day and those with two or more years college $138. Anyone who is certified was to receive $205 per day and the pay for education technician substitutes was $112 per day.

There was no discussion prior to Thursday’s vote.