Article in the H-T today demonstrates the need for more funding (among other things) in our public schools.: MCCSC limiting hours for substitute teachers Decision prompted by Affordable Care Act Posted: Saturday, February 1, 2014 12:50 am | Updated: 1:04 am, Sat Feb 1, 2014. By Mary Keck 331-4353 | mkeck@heraldt | 10 comments Beginning Monday, the Monroe County Community School Corp. will limit the hours and number of days substitute teachers can work each week because of concerns about the Affordable Care Act. Subs received notice from Assistant Superintendent Peggy Chambers this week that they’ll have set hours each day and will only be able to work four full days a week starting Feb. 3. “As a ‘career’ sub (I’ve been a sub now for over a decade) and former staff employee with MCCSC, this ‘bump in the road’ impacts me greatly,” said David Wierhake in an email. MCCSC secondary education subs will work 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. with a 30-minute break, and elementary subs will work 8:25 a.m. to 3:55 p.m. with a 30-minute break. At the most, subs can work four full days each week, or about 28 hours. To comply with the ACA, employers must offer health care benefits to employees who work 30 hours or more each week. “Our insurance consultant Richard Sutton, at a work session last fall, made several recommendations to our board,” Chambers said in an email. “We have been implementing those recommendations.” Along with the school board, an insurance committee made up of teachers, administrators, support staff and other representatives from the school corporation also were aware of the procedural changes, said Bev Smith, MCCSC’s director of school and community outreach. Wierhake said that besides hearing rumors, the first time he was notified of such reductions in the hours subs could work was Wednesday in Chambers’ letter dated Jan. 29. “It’s rather short notice,” he said. “Decisions like this don’t just affect one person or two people.” The MCCSC employs 240 substitutes. For a full day, those who are noncertified are paid $64.26; certified substitutes are paid $74.46; and those who have retired from MCCSC are paid $84.66. “It’s hard enough paying the bills with a five-day week as a sub,” said Wierhake, who is noncertified, and would make $325 if he were to work a five-day week. “I depend on that income, even though it is hit and miss,” he said. Wierhake describes substitute teaching as a “johnny-on-the-spot, think-on-your-feet sort of existence.” When he goes to bed at night, he doesn’t always know if he’ll have a job in the morning. At around 6:30 a.m., he hopes, his phone will ring, and he’ll have some work to do either for the full day or for half the day. Depending on where the school is located, he’ll stop for gas on the way or walk a few blocks. When he arrives at the classroom, Wierhake isn’t certain about what he’ll find. There may or may not be well laid out lesson plans left for him from the full-time teacher, and the students often misbehave because they know the sub is a guest. From school to school, the support from administrators varies. Some may stop in to check on the classroom to remind learners they need to respect their substitute, but some may not. “We don’t have any union behind us. There’s no process of evaluation or anything like that,” he said. As a substitute, Wierhake could be terminated at any time. “It’s a tenuous type of livelihood,” he said. At the same time, “I enjoy being around kids.” Wierhake has subbed for MCCSC for more than 10 years, but with the new guidelines, “I’ll probably have to go to Richland-Bean Blossom Community School Corp. and see if I can get work over there,” he said. According to R-BB Superintendent Mike Wilcox, Wierhake may be in luck. “We wish that our sub list was about twice as big as it is now,” Wilcox said. Starting Jan. 1, R-BB’s subs were limited to working about 3.5 days, or 29.5 hours or less each week, because of the ACA. Substitutes must have at least two years of college to make $80 for a full day of teaching at R-BB. Wilcox said the need for two years of college may be reduced for substitutes so the school corporation can generate a larger applicant pool. “I’ve had preliminary talks with our teachers’ association, and we agreed to take a look at reducing that to one year (of college),” he said. “If there’s anyone out there that’s interested, please give us a call. We’re always looking for good substitute teachers,” Wilcox said. For more information, call R-BB at 812-876-7100.
Posted on: Sat, 01 Feb 2014 13:45:37 +0000
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