School Committee Approves Pay Hike For Substitute Teachers

NORWOOD, MA — Substitute teachers in Norwood are about to get a pay raise.

The school committee voted 4-0-1 at a recent meeting to increase the pay for subs by $20. Substitutes with a high school education will now receive $75 a day, those with some college education will receive $80, and certified teachers will be paid $80. The pay increase is the first in seven years.

The new rates came following a study of substitute teacher pay at nearby schools.

The rates are for substitute teachers who are filling in for under 30 days. Long terms subs are played on a different pay scale.

The school committee expects the pay increase to add $31,000 to substitute pay. Committee member Patrick McDonough, who abstained from the vote, questioned if the school district had the money for the raises.

"If we don't have the money, we have to wait to do this. I'd love to do it but if we don't have the money, we can't do it," McDonough said.

According to budget numbers provided to the committee, the district had a $130,000 net balance at the end of fiscal year 2015 and $87,000 for fiscal year 2016.

"I don't think that increasing this by $31,000 increases our bottom line by $31,000," Chairwoman Myev Bodenhofer said.

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