CCSD boosts pay for substitutes at select schools

The Clark County School District is increasing pay for substitute teachers at some schools.

The district said Wednesday in an email to the Las Vegas Review-Journal that it boosted pay at “select campuses to attract substitutes to our highest-needs schools.”

The district didn’t respond to a question about when the change took effect.

The move comes amid a teacher shortage that has led to some students not having a regular licensed teacher in their classroom, large class sizes, teachers selling their preparation periods to cover classes and schools not being able to offer certain classes.

The district has 1,200 licensed job openings — a category that includes teachers and other professionals such as school nurses and counselors — listed on its hiring website, as of Thursday.

Substitute teachers can now make $225 per day at 23 schools that are part of the district’s “Transformation Network,” a group of elementary schools that are getting extra help with improving student academic achievement.

Those schools are: Booker, Clyde Cox, Dearing, Dickens, Duncan, Ira Earl, Harmon, Herr, Jeffers, Kelly, King, Long, Lunt, Lynch, Perkins, Petersen, Hal Smith, Tartan, Thomas, Thorpe, Wilhelm, Wendell Williams and Wynn.

And substitutes can make $215 per day at seven schools with high vacancy rates: Chaparral and Cheyenne high schools; and Johnston, Robison, Sedway, Swainston and Von Tobel middle schools.

Previously, the district’s pay for substitutes topped out at $200 per day for vacancy positions at Title I schools, which have a high percentage of students living in poverty.

The district pays $110 per day for standard day-to-day assignments, $130 for long-term substitutes and $140 for vacancy substitutes.

Pay increases beyond that based on factors such as the length of time a substitute fills a role and for special education positions.

Substitute teachers must have a license issued by the Nevada Department of Education.

School districts with more than 9,000 students, including Clark County, are no longer allowed to hire emergency substitute teachers.

The COVID-19 pandemic-era rule allowed for hiring those with only a high school diploma or equivalent, but that concluded after summer 2022 classes ended.

There are a handful of rural Clark County schools, though, that are still allowed to hire emergency substitutes.

Substitute teachers generally don’t receive health insurance, vacation or sick time.

But the Clark County district offers health insurance for some long-term substitutes. In order to enroll, a substitute must have worked an average of 29.5 hours per week during the previous year.

A couple of bills were considered during the state legislative session this year aimed at improving benefits for substitute teachers.

Assembly Bill 282 would have required school districts to provide a monthly subsidy of at least $450 to full-time substitute teachers to allow them to buy health insurance.

Legislators passed the bill, but Lombardo vetoed it.

Another bill related to substitute teachers, Senate Bill 434, was signed into law. It makes them eligible for public employee retirement benefits.

Contact Julie Wootton-Greener at jgreener@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2921. Follow @julieswootton on X.