U-46 to retired teacher subs: 'Go home'

Several long-term substitute teachers in Elgin Area School District U-46 were told to pack up and go home Tuesday without warning.

The teachers, who were working at Coleman Elementary in Elgin, Liberty Elementary in Bartlett and Kenyon Woods Middle School in South Elgin were let go because of their status as retired teachers, district officials say.

According to district spokesman Tony Sanders, if retired teachers come back to work for 20 days or more, they then get placed back onto the teacher's salary schedule.

Their pay rate would then increase from $90 a day to $386 a day.

The substitutes would also have to receive prorated pay at the higher rate back to the first day that they started.

To help balance out a $17 million increase in salaries and benefits for union employees, U-46 cut the equivalent of 350 full-time jobs last spring.

On the instructional side, 193 of 2,640 positions - including special education teachers, teachers aides and certified school nurses - were cut. The number of general education and bilingual teachers did not change.

"Because of the number of teachers we reduced last year, we have a pool of certified teachers we can use (instead) as substitutes," Sanders said.

The substitutes were hired because some principals were not aware that the district was not hiring retired teachers back for more than 20 days, Sanders said.

"It should have been communicated better to the schools," Sanders said.