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205 discusses substitute teacher pay, and 2017 District tax levy

Monday night the School District 205 Board of Education discussed increasing the pay for substitute teachers, and the 2017 tax levy. 

The District’s Director of Human Resources Jon Bradburn informed the board that the district has been having problems with keeping a full list of substitutes in the district.

The difficulty has resulted in 138 times last year that a certified staff sub was not available to cover a class.

Bradburn’s idea was to increase the day to day pay for substitutes to make them more competitive with nearby schools.

He told the board that not only is neighboring districts pay better, but that some districts offer incentives for subs that accept work on consecutive basis, “Some of the rates of changed. Peoria is quite a bit bigger than us, but their current daily rate is $130. Our rate is $85. We’ve got Monmouth-Roseville that’s at $90, Rock Island is at $90, but then if you go so many days without refusing assignment – their rate goes to $100.”

When asked about average number of teachers missing work on a daily basis, Bradburn told the board that it averages out to 19 substitutes needed a day – adding that the district has 348 teachers.

Suggestions were made, such as looking to employee full-time substitute teachers within the district, or creating and utilizing an internal substitute scheme.

Among some of the suggestions made, board member Wayne Statham suggested increasing the pay from $85 to $95 a day, and adding an additional incentive of $105 for substitutes who don’t turn down assignments for consecutive days.

Also discssed last night was the district’s tax levy for the year 2017.

The district makes assumptions on the tax levy based on what County Clerks estimate the final Equalized Assessed Valuation, or EAV – the value of all property in the district – will be for the county.

Assistant Superintendent for Finance and Operations Jennifer Hamm informed the board that the district is looking at an EAV increase of 2.67%, but told the board that because of the anticipated EAV change the district would not increase the tax rate.

Board member Wayne Statham spoke in response to the presentation – saying that while the rate wasn’t increasing, the additional EAV increase would equate to a tax increase on a home in the district, “Under the levy – as is proposed – the other calculation that I did.. I’m taking a house in Galesburg –  a lot of houses in Galesburg are worth around $150,000. This levy would increase those peoples tax bill by $100.59… I still look at that as a tax increase.”

Little discussion was made on videotaping or streaming board meetings.

During the period of public comment at the start of the meeting, Jerry Ryberg spoke the board regarding bullying on district buses. He accused the board of doing little to address the complaints of bullying.

The board did take some action on the night – approving the affiliation agreement with Carl Sandburg College to provide clinical hours to CSC students at Galesburg High School, and the purchase of a new food service van for $35,133.74

Additionally the board approved three donation agreements from G&M Distributors, F&M Bank, and Yemm Chevrolet for $12,000 donations to be used towards a new scoreboard in the Thiel Gymnasium.

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