BEATRICE – Beatrice Public Schools is planning to increase the daily pay for substitute teachers, as districts compete for a limited pool of applicants.
Superintendent Jason Alexander told the Board of Education at a committee-level meeting Thursday night that an increase may be on the board’s next monthly agenda.


Assistant Superintendent Dr. Jackie Nielsen says substitutes sometimes serve more than one district in an area.  "Our rate of pay is currently $140...you are starting to see that a lot of districts are heading toward that a $150 mark. I'm looking at making the recommendation that we move to $150 as well."


The current $140 in the Beatrice District is for substitute teachers. The district is also looking at adjusting hourly pay upward for substitute non-teaching staff.


"Our classified subs are probably the hardest to find. We tend to have an average of seven classified positions that are open daily. Teacher subs....there may be two to four that are open throughout the week, so you do have staff covering."


Alexander says District 15 started the school year with the highest substitute pay rate in the area, but other districts have since adjusted. He says teacher shortages are a topic at the legislative level in Nebraska.  "Ideas are being kicked around about how to attract more educators to the field. Basically to sum it up in a nutshell...the anticipation is in the next two years to find teachers...it's crazy the difference between application pools now compared to two years ago...how much they've shrunk, and what the next two year prediction looks like."


In other discussion Thursday night, Alexander says a proposal will come before the board to transfer remaining bond funds from the high school bond issue paid off several years ago. As the district undertakes building a prekindergarten to fifth grade elementary school…the building fund of the district has $349,768 in a balance since the bond issue for the Beatrice High School was paid off.


"In preparation for the new building project, there's a couple of things you, as a board, have the opportunity to do...and that's take this money that was initially determined and identified for a building project...transfer it into your general fund...and then use that for a building project such as what we're going through now."


Leftover receipts can occur from lower-than-expected expenditures and back taxes that come in. Alexander says the recommendation for the board will be to close out the bond fund and transfer the money into district’s general fund, where it can be used for the new project. That could include covering architectural fees, engineering, equipment and other items.


Alexander says the district is beginning to receive architectural bills related to the planned new elementary school, along with other expenses.