Dayton Public Schools to outsource substitute teachers

Dayton Public Schools will contract with a Wisconsin-based staffing company to provide substitute teachers starting Jan. 1, outsourcing a service handled for the past 30 years by the unionized Dayton Chapter of Reserve Teachers.

DPS originally planned to make that move in August, but then reached an agreement giving DCRT one semester to earn the work long-term, if they improved on certain benchmarks. However, Donna Hill, president of DCRT, confirmed this week that the outsourcing with Parallel Employment Group will begin Jan. 1.

Dayton Public Schools staff attorney Jyllian Guerriero said the reserve teachers group did not meet the three benchmarks set up in the temporary agreement — requiring them to fill at least 95 percent of all absences, make at least 50 members available daily and ensure that members commit to work at least 10 days per month unless not needed.

Hill has repeatedly said that Dayton Public Schools is the entity that hires substitute teachers, and DPS’ failure to add more teachers to the reserve pool was the reason DCRT didn’t meet required staffing levels.

Guerriero said as a result of a DPS hiring effort this summer, the district reached a peak of 180 substitutes available, which should have been enough to fill the required slots. School board member Joe Lacey said earlier this year that some substitutes refuse assignments to certain schools, especially in West Dayton.

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