Muncie school district doubles the pay for substitute teachers with experience

MUNCIE, Ind. (WISH) — The Muncie school district noticed it was having a hard time when it came to finding someone to fill in when teacher were out sick or on vacation.

So, they found a way to fix the problem by paying more money to substitute teachers with certain qualifications.

“We have a shortage of subs, and, since the pandemic, that need as grown,” said Lee Ann Kwiatkowski, director of education at Muncie Community Schools.

She says the district’s lack of substitute teachers was very noticeable.

“Since the pandemic, we’ve seen a decrease of 25% in the number of subs we had, and since last year we’ve seen a 10% decrease,” Kwiatkowski said.

If the school can’t find subs, that means it has to pull other staff members, sometimes even the principal, into classrooms.

“Which really isn’t good for school morale either, if you want to do the job you’ve been hired to do and you’re always asked to do something else,” the education director said.

To mitigate the issue, the Muncie district decided to sweeten the pot to get more qualified substitute teachers. Anyone with prior teaching experience can now make $210 a day subbing in Muncie schools; that’s twice what they were paying before.

“We thought, well, let’s double the salary for those who have teaching experience. That way we can get qualified teachers, former teachers, in those positions, and it will be a win-win for everybody,” Kwiatkowski said.

Getting more qualified substitute teachers also means the students are more likely to prosper.

“We already have students that are experiencing learning loss so they really need somebody every single day who will be in that classroom helping close those gaps,” Kwiatkowski said.

If you’re interested in being a substitute teacher, apply on the Muncie Community Schools website.