Fair Lawn Bumps Pay Rate for Substitute Teachers

Substitute teachers filling in at Fair Lawn schools this year will earn about 20 percent more than in years past.

approved a pay raise for district substitutes last week in an attempt to attract higher quality replacements when salaried teachers are out sick or attending in-service trainings.

“It’s very difficult when you have teachers who are ill or they’re out on professional leave and you’re trying to get qualified substitutes to help fill in,” said Superintendent Bruce Watson, who acknowledged the district has had problems with substitutes in the past. “They’re going to other districts because they pay more.”

The board voted to increase the daily rate for substitutes with state teaching licenses from $80 per day to $95 per day, and for substitutes with state substitute licenses only from $70 per day to $85 per day.

Board president Michael Rosenberg and board member Ron Barbarulo both opposed the increase.

Rosenberg said he was not against raising the rates per se, just against how much they were being raised. Barbarulo said he voted against the rate increase because he had yet to adequately review the costs involved and did not feel comfortable supporting something he hadn’t thoroughly vetted.

Lisa Panagia, the district’s director of human resources, said she expects the amount spent on substitutes this year will exceed the $444,429 the district paid out last year due to the approximately 20 percent increase in daily rates, which she said are now comparable with surrounding districts.

Teachers’ union president Gene Kuffel, who attended last week’s meeting, thanked the board for increasing substitute pay rates, which he said have been too low for years.

“I know as a teacher, and I know my colleagues, we leave lesson plans as though we’re going to be there if we know we’re going to be out,” Kuffel said. “I expect the instruction to continue and hopefully we will be able to attract those who could continue with those lessons as though we are there.”

The new substitute rates went into effect Tuesday.

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