CLEARFIELD – The Clearfield Area School District is struggling to fill paraprofessional and food service jobs.
At Monday’s school board meeting, Superintendent Terry Struble reported the district has five cafeteria and roughly 11 (full- and part-time) paraprofessional (personal care/classroom assistants) openings.
There’s been some interest in the PCA and classroom assistant positions, but according to Mark Bender, director of special education, the district is competing against other local job openings.
“So, there’s still a need,” he said, and while this has administrators exploring other resources available to them, Struble invited anyone looking for part-time work to contact the district. “We have opportunities.”
Interested persons should submit a completed application to the attention of the Human Resources Office. Applications are available at the office or online; any questions may be directed to 814-765-5511.
Struble also proposed substitute rates for the 2022-23 school year following a survey of neighboring districts.
Substitute rates were proposed as follows: $10/hour, food services; $10/hour, custodial but $15/hour for retirees; $13/hour, health assistant; $9.75/hour, paraprofessional; $9.75/hour, secretary; $12/hour, technology; $120, full-day teacher; and $60, half-day teacher.
Struble said he was cautious not to raise the substitute rates above the starting rates, so there would be incentive to seek permanent employment.
He proposed having a retiree rate for custodians since there is no “dead time” and they can essentially substitute immediately, and hoped offering the higher rate would encourage them to.
Struble also proposed raising the rate of a full-day substitute teacher from $100 to $120, noting it would be the equivalent of an eight-hour shift at Sheetz.
“I think our substitute teachers are deserving of at least that,” he said. The board will vote on the proposed substitute rates at next Monday’s meeting.
