By By ANDY HAMILTON / Niles Daily Star
NILES – Niles Community Schools is in need of substitute teachers.
In an attempt to recruit more candidates, the board of education recently approved a $10 pay increase for Niles substitutes. As of Jan. 8, 2007, substitutes at Niles will be paid $80 per day.
"We've had a couple of days where we've run short [on substitutes] and hopefully by raising the money we'll get more good subs," said John Tanke, director of personnel for Niles Community Schools.
First-time subs must meet some requirements before being assigned a substitute position at Niles.
First, Tanke said, state law requires a candidate to have 90 semester hours from one accredited university, and be able to show a transcript to the Berrien County Intermediate School District of those hours.
Next, a candidate must go to the Berrien County ISD, 711 St. Joseph Ave., Berrien Springs, to purchase a substitute permit for $25. Each substitute must also be fingerprinted for the FBI at a cost of $63.
The substitute can be reimbursed for both the permit fee and fingerprint fee once they have worked a certain amount of days for the district, Tanke said. He also added there is very little "lag time" in getting the fingerprints completed and filed with the state, which means a substitute could be working within a few days of being fingerprinted.
For more information on substitute positions with Niles Community Schools contact the personnel office at (269) 683-6662. The Berrien County ISD can be reached at (269) 471-7725.