The Butler School Board unanimously voted to outsource substitute teachers districtwide in its Monday night meeting.

All substitute teachers in good standing with the district will automatically have jobs with Education Staffing Solutions, according to its vice president of business development, KC Schiller. The company, abbreviated as ESS, will handle hiring, management, recruiting and other substitute-related tasks in exchange for a fee.

Administrators hope such a change will alleviate ongoing substitute teacher shortages in the district, and possibly save cash by avoiding pension payments to the state.

“You're waiting for subs to come to you,” Schiller said. “We're going out and looking for them.”

The district contributes 34 percent of its substitute teacher pay to the state's pension fund. Teachers in the district make $100 a day, so the district pays $134 a day for a sub.

District employees contribute 7.5 percent to pension. If the employee doesn't work enough hours, which most substitutes don't, they get back their contribution. The school district, however, does not.

By signing a three-year contract with ESS on Monday, the district sidesteps the pension requirement for substitutes. It will pay 29 percent fees to ESS, so $129 a day, rather than $134.

The move should also open up the gates for retired teachers to return to classrooms more frequently by avoiding state pensions.

Teachers who retired through the pension system, Superintendent Brian White explained, “can only be hired back on an emergency basis for a period of time within a school district. If you exceed that amount of time, you're putting your pension benefits in jeopardy.”

Schiller said the retired teacher list would be ESS's first tool in recruiting new substitutes. Hours for all substitutes, he said, wouldn't face limits. Subs would be allowed to work five-day weeks, if desired.

Business office staff reported that only a handful of substitutes are actively trying to pay into a pension account using substitute teaching work.

ESS operates in 20 states and runs substitute programs at 100 Pennsylvania school districts.

The company would guarantee filling a minimum of 85 percent of open substitute teaching slots. The district currently hits between 80 percent and 85 percent usually, White said.

The district would reserve the right to veto hirings and both fire and ban substitutes.