The Warren County R-III School Board approved an increase in pay for substitutes in multiple capacities across the district during its monthly meeting June 1.Those filling in substitute roles as custodial workers, cafeteria workers or bus driver aides now will earn $1 more per hour, with the compensation raising from $8 to $9.“The cost of living is going up, and we want to continue to try to compensate those people who help us out the best we can,” said R-III Assistant Superintendent Dr. Aaron Jones.The district has been proactive about its substitute positions for a while now, with the substitute teacher pay scale having been updated earlier in the year.A general overall raise was put into place as well as an incentive for retired teachers willing to serve as substitutes to help the R-III remain competitive with surrounding districts.Substitute teacher pay is now $85 per day or $95 for long-term subbing, which applies to a substitute that serves 10 consecutive days.Jones says the district is responding for several reasons, including an ongoing challenge to entice substitutes to fill the vacant positions.“There is some struggle to find people willing to come in and sub,” said Jones. “Similar to substitute teachers, if people in these other substitute positions come and do a good job, as soon as we have an opening we end up hiring them into full-time positions."The district recently committed to partner with Penmac, a substitute contracting service, in hopes of simplifying the substitute search process.“We know it’s one of those positions that’s probably going to be a part-time job for somebody,” said Jones. “We want to be more competitive with other part-time jobs and are continuing to monitor that.”Pay Raise