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SB 271 Clears Committee With SAA Support
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | September 13, 2013
SB 271, relating to substitute special education teachers and paraprofessional staffing services, cleared the Senate Education Committee unanimously (9-0) yesterday with SAA support.
You might recall that Senator Luther Olsen and Representative Steve Kestell, the respective Senate and Assembly Education Committee chairs, forwarded this legislation at the request of the SAA. SB 271 explicitly authorizes a school district, county, and CESA to contract for substitute teaching and paraprofessional staffing services and makes the costs of such services eligible for special education aid.
Hats off to Tom Owens, Director of Business Services for the Stevens Point Area School District (SPASD) and Tom Wohlleber, Assistant Superintendent for Business Services for the Middleton-Cross Plains Area School District (MCPASD), for their excellent testimony in support of SB 271. I want to give special thanks as well to Tabatha Gundrum, MCPASD Director of Employee Services, for her invaluable support in answering legislators’ questions about the nuts and bolts of the MCPASD relationship with Teachers on Call.
A brief explanation of the bill appears below:
Historically, coordinating the placement of substitute teachers for any given school day has been a time-consuming, labor-intensive process for public school districts. In recent years, increasing numbers of school districts have turned to contracting for substitute teachers with private service firms.
These firms have evolved to handle all aspects of district substitute staffing needs including recruitment, background checks, substitute placement on a daily basis, and processing substitute payroll and benefits. Many districts find these firms to be efficient, cost-effective staffing solutions that free up district staff for other more pressing administrative duties.
However, there is a problem as it relates to special education substitute teachers and paraprofessionals. Currently a school district will not receive state special education aid for the costs of contracting with a substitute staffing service.
Under current law if school district personnel coordinate the placement of special education substitute teachers and paraprofessionals, the district will receive state special education aid for those substitute staffing costs. But, if the district contracts with a substitute staffing service for the placement, they will not receive state special education aid for those costs.
Therefore, school districts that utilize cost-effective substitute staffing services are being penalized under current law for using those services for their special education substitute staffing needs. This bill solves this problem by explicitly authorizing a school district to contract with substitute teaching staffing services and makes the costs of such a contract eligible for special education aid.
Tom Owens Testimony 091213 TOC Stevens Point Cost Analysis v2 – WI 2012-13 Performance
Tom Wohlleber Testimony 091213
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