Substitutes who work for extended periods of time in Kalispell Public Schools will start receiving bonuses as part of a new recruitment and retention incentive program as it faces a critical substitute shortage.

The more days a substitute works the higher the bonus amount will be.

The Kalispell Public Schools Board of Trustees approved the incentive program Tuesday as it faces a critical substitute shortage that may become more severe if COVID-19 cases climb and close contacts are quarantined.

“We have been working extremely hard to increase our substitute numbers. Currently we have about 100 subs that have signed up, but we only have about 60 we consider active,” said Kalispell Human Resources Director Tracy Scott. Optimally, the district would like to see a substitute pool of about 250 to 350 people.

“As we have found out these last couple weeks we don’t have enough subs to cover our absentee activity,” she said. “So we need to be creative. We’ve done traditional advertising. We’ve done posting. We’ve put it in our school newsletters.”

The district has divided the school year into two terms based on funding sources such as the Coronavirus Relief Fund. The first term will be 58 days and the second term, 119 days. Subs will become eligible for a bonus if they work a minimum of 25% of either term, receiving an amount equivalent to an additional $10 a day.

Bonuses are not cumulative. The district will determine the level for which a substitute is qualified, based on the total days worked and they will be paid accordingly. Subs who started at the beginning of the school year will have days counted toward the bonus.

Long-term substitute teachers are excluded from receiving bonuses since they are compensated similarly to a classroom teacher with a contract and are eligible for benefits and leave.

In the first term, this starts at $150 for subs working 15 days. If they work 29 days they will receive $290. For subs who work 46 days, they will be eligible for $460 plus $10 for each additional day worked.

“That really helps us not only recruit but even more importantly retain, keep these substitutes picking up those jobs and moving forward,” Scott said.

In the second term, the bonus starts at $300 for subs who work 30 days. If they work 60 days they receive $600. Substitutes who work 95 days will be eligible for $950, plus $10 each day worked beyond that.

“It not only is going to be an incentive for people to sign up, but it definitely is an incentive for that retention piece and that’s critical,” Scott said. “That’s just as critical as having a big pool because if you’ve got a lot of people in that pool, but they’re not subbing it doesn’t help.”

The incentive program also includes a finder’s fee for employees, excluding the human resources department, who recruit substitutes who work a minimum of 15 days. Both the employee and substitute would receive $50 bonuses.

Substitute teachers are paid based on their education. The daily rate in Kalispell Public Schools starts at $75 for substitute teachers with high school diplomas and goes up to $80 if they receive additional free training from the Northwest Montana Educational Cooperative. People with a bachelor’s or master’s degree earn $85 a full day or $90 if they also have a Montana teaching certificate.

KALISPELL SUPERINTENDENT Micah Hill also provided an update on COVID-19 cases and quarantines among staff during the Tuesday meeting, noting that the past two weeks have been tough following the Labor Day holiday.

“We have staff who have spouses who have tested positive and haven’t been contacted by the county health department yet and they’re letting us know, and we’re having to say, ‘yeah, go home and isolate — wait for the county health department,’” he said.

“We had 13 positive staff members in our schools. Nine are currently in isolation. We had 24 quarantined since the start of the school year. Twenty-one are currently in quarantine and then we have a number of others who are symptomatic, who are getting tested, who are awaiting results. And we’ve had a number who have been symptomatic, gotten tests and are negative.”

An assuring piece of information, according to Hill, is that Flathead City-County Health Department advised him there isn’t spread within schools, meaning individuals are contracting COVID-19 outside of school. Hill said he is currently aware there might be one instance where a staff member, who shared a close office space with a colleague who got COVID-19, later tested positive while in quarantine.

“The reason for the update, we’re feeling like we’re getting close to our adult capacity in terms of being able to effectively operate,” Hill said. “We’re hopeful that our push with recruitment and retention of subs will aid us in that,” he said. “Teachers who are on quarantine are still able to remote into our classrooms but you still have to have an adult in that classroom for those students.”

“Right now we’re trying to weather the storm, so to speak, and see how long we can continue to do this, and the answer is really dependent on the ability of adults to supervise our classrooms,” Hill said.

People interested in becoming a substitute may apply online at https://www.sd5.k12.mt.us/Content2/1644.

Reporter Hilary Matheson may be reached at 758-4431 or hmatheson@dailyinterlake.com.