Principals in the Pleasant Valley School District say the district's lack of substitutes for both teachers and support staff present a staffing challenge in their buildings.

But administrators are working on ways to expand the pool of available substitutes. School board members recently asked the district's principals to describe how they are affected by the lack of substitutes.Principals at all levels said it's not an everyday problem, but that it affects each school.Polk Elementary Principal Erica Greer said that teacher absences often occur in clusters, like days when many teachers are out sick. That means if Polk needs substitutes, Pleasant Valley Elementary probably does as well."It seems to fall consistently on the same day," she said. "Support staff too. So if we have a shortage, (the other schools) are having one too."Pleasant Valley Intermediate School Principal Todd VanNortwick said he has had to use reading and math aides to cover classes, but that puts the students who need aides at a disadvantage."For a while, on a daily basis, we had to pull remedial staff from our classrooms," he said. "The end result is the kids who need that one-on-one support don't receive it."Greer said oftentimes subs will cancel jobs they scheduled weeks in advance at Pleasant Valley because they have the opportunity to substitute at Pocono Mountain, which pays $20 more. Pleasant Valley pays substitutes $80 per day, as do Stroudsburg and East Stroudsburg."You end the day thinking you're full for the next day, but then you come in and you're one or two short," she said.Superintendent Carole Geary assured the principals the district was attacking the problem.By scheduling a day off for students in the fall, the district can save significantly on substitute hours it currently uses to cover teacher training.She said the situation could also be helped by the district's new payroll system implemented last month. Substitutes were previously limited to three days a week so they wouldn't be classified as full-time employees. The payroll system allows the district to employ substitutes five days and keep them as part-time workers.Board members said they want to look at increasing pay. Several board members want to do away with a $500 bonus for long-serving subs, replacing it with a higher daily rate. Although it's an incentive that's been on the books, administrators say it's rarely been awarded."We need to consider upping the amount," board member Len Peeters said. "You come in, you're going to get paid now."Distributed by MCT Information Services