MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Wednesday morning, Shelby County Schools announced a daily rate pay increase for substitute teachers and they changed the qualifications.
Instead of substitutes earning $95 a day, they will now earn $112 per day. Certified substitute teachers will earn $172 per day. Initially, SCS subs were required to have a bachelor's degree with a 2.5 GPA but as of Wednesday, subs are only required to have an HS diploma.
In a statement to ABC 24, Shelby County Schools said, "The bachelor's degree requirement was removed from the non-certified substitute teacher requirements in order to extend eligibility. HR reviewed the job description which is not an uncommon practice. Upon review, the eligibility requirements were revised, approved, and expanded."
For the first time, Kelly Education Services is helping Shelby County Schools fill the classroom with teachers by supplying substitute teachers and classroom monitors. We spoke with Kelly Education Services Tuesday before the raise in pay was announced.
For the 2021-22 school year, Kelly Education Services is currently supplying SCS with 50 classroom monitors and 102 substitute teachers. Monitors mainly assist teachers who are working remotely so there's a teacher present in the classroom. But according to SCS, because of the shortage of teachers, those monitors are taking more of a substitute teacher role.
Kelly Education helps place teachers in several schools across the county, including Holmes Road Elementary, DoubleTree Elementary, Egypt Elementary, Manassas High School, and Ridgeway Middle School.
Kelly Education has more than 800 subs working in the Shelby County area.
If you are interested in becoming a substitute teacher, apply here on the SCS website.