MHS quarterly funding for substitutes runs short
Posted by Common on Dec 20, 2009 in Municipal • No comments
An effort to reduce teacher absences at Methuen High is off to a bad start, as the school has already exhausted its budget for second quarter substitutes due to the high number of sick days being taken.
This year, school officials switched from an annual budget for substitute teachers to a quarterly one, hoping teachers would be less likely to call out sick if they knew the school might not have enough money for a replacement.
So far, that strategy hasn’t worked. The school’s 151 teachers used 223 days for sick time, bereavement, jury duty and personal time between the start of the second quarter on Nov. 9 and Dec. 11, according to district Business Administrator Glenn Fratto. The quarter runs through Jan. 22.
