On Feb. 6 a group of Wenatchee School District substitute teachers met with officials from the Wenatchee School District concerning suggested changes to their pay and their work environment.

“We feel we are not valued,” substitute Don Shoemake said. “If we were valued for our contribution we would be compensated.”

A group of substitutes handed a letter to Superintendent Brian Flones and the Wenatchee School Board on Nov. 26. The substitutes have since begun advocating for a raise in their salary. The current pay is $96 per day. The substitutes hope to bring their salary to $125, according to Suellen Harris, a member of the group leading the talks with the district.

The Big Nine’s highest paying school district is Yakima. Substitutes there are paid $130. While in the Moses Lake the pay is of $126 and in quincy it stands at $125.

The group has concluded that an increase in wage would be a fair compensation for the job.

“New bus drivers are paid over $18 an hour,” Harris said. “Some of us have worked over 20 years in the district and there has been no significant raise in that time. Maybe if there was a better compensation it would attract more and better subs.”

With their current salary the substitutes are paid at about $13.71 an hour.

Shortage of substitute teachers is another conflict the substitutes face and it may also be attributed to low salary, according to Harris.

“There are just not enough subs to cover for the whole district,” Harris said. “Only on six days has there been enough subs to cover all of the jobs in the district.”

Substitute shortage has caused concern since the substitutes working one job are often pulled during their prep period to fill in for another.

“If you are teaching English and you have to run to fill in for someone in the gym or business dept. there isn’t enough time during the passing period,” Harris said. “By the time you get there there isn’t enough time to read the instructions and get the class started on time. Then you have to write the teachers notes. It just puts a lot of stress on us.”

The district has not made a decision on the matter, but substitutes hope that their suggestions will be become a reality.

“It all comes down to the district not valuing our job,” Shoemake said. “No one ever says it, but in my personal opinion I feel like their mentality is that we are ‘just subs.’ ”