Chisholm School Board raises substitute rate

“A new state report says the shortage of full-time and substitute teachers has reached nearly every school district in Minnesota, which Education Minnesota President Denise Specht said is affecting the quality of learning and burning out educators of all kinds,” as stated in a press release by Education Minnesota on Tuesday.

Per action by the school board on Monday the rate for full-day substitute teachers will go from $110 per day to $130 per day. For retirees of the district filling in as substitutes the rate will increase from its current rate of $125 per full day to $150. The rate for half day substitute teachers will go from $55 to $65, and the rate for paraprofessional substitutes going from the current rate of $15 to $16.50 per hour.

The vote passed 5 to 0 with Director Mark Casey abstaining.

The board took up the following other matters on Monday.

• Authorized the sale of series 2023 general obligation bonds. The sale is to fund a new school building to house preschool through sixth grade students. In Fall 2022 the district held a special election in which the voters of the district approved the issuing of general obligation bonds of the district in a principal amount not to exceed $32 million for the purposes of financing the costs of the project and levying and collecting a special levy of taxes against all the taxable property in the district sufficient in rate and amount to pay the principal of, premium, if any, and interest on said bonds, as described in the resolution. On Dec. 12, 2022, the school board voted to sell and issue up to $32 million in general obligation bonds.

A proposal by the underwriter Robert W. Baird & Co., to purchase the bonds at a price of $34,418,415.60 (representing the initial stated amount of the bonds of $31,999,047.90, plus the original issue premium of $2,981,680.20 and less underwriter’s discount of $562,312.50, was accepted by the school district officials on Jan. 11, according to the resolution.

The original principal amount of the Capital Appreciation Bonds ($13,894,047.90) will bear compounding interest and will have an aggregate final accreted maturity value of $26,880,000, it states.

• Approved an agreement for professional services between the district and Kristen Hoheisel to include but not limited to working with InGensa on items included in the 2022 building bond, bus garage and athletic facilities. The district is to compensate Hohiesal at a rate of $75 per hour, according to the agreement for a period not to exceed 10 hours per week, or 40 hours per month. The agreement also calls for Hoheisel to be compensated at a rate of $30 per hour for travel time and reimbursed at the federal mileage rate. It’s noted that travel time is not considered in the designated limit of hours.

• Approved the 2023-2024 school calendar. School is scheduled to start on Sept. 5 and end on May 30, 2024.

• Hired Kim Wiehrdt, Darlene Hanson, Theresa Augustson, Jennifer Waryas, Samantha Barabe and Caroline Podlogar as temporary afternoon shift custodian as needed, from Jan. 19 through June 1.

• Hired Waryas and Stephanie Bakkethun as an after school bus paraprofessionals as needed, from Jan. 19 through June 1.