Mary Rodriguez wants to bump up wages of substitute teachers in Lawrence public schools.

The district’s human recourses director has recommended that $60,000 more from the district’s budget be earmarked annually for substitutes’ compensation. The current budget allows about $400,000 a year for substitutes.

“An increase in substitute pay will allow us to be more competitive in our efforts to attract quality substitutes to our district,” Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez said substitutes with a teaching degree should earn a higher daily rate than people without a degree. And veteran substitutes — those with more than 10 years of experience in the district — ought to be even higher on the pay scale, she said.

The Lawrence school board will consider the request even as it looks for a possible $4 million in spending cuts to next year’s budget, said Scott Morgan, the board’s president.

If the board approves an increase for substitute teachers, he said, spending in other areas would have to be trimmed an equivalent amount.

“The board has to make the decision about whether the cuts required to pay for it are worth the upside of paying more on substitutes,” Morgan said.

Currently, the district’s substitutes earn $82 a day. Substitutes who are in the same assignment for five or more days are paid $110 daily.

Substitutes didn’t receive a raise this past year, Rodriguez said.

She said it would be more appropriate to pay certified substitutes $90 a day. Those without an education degree would earn $82 a day.

Most districts in the area pay higher wages to substitutes, Rodriguez said.

The Kansas City, Kan., district offers certified substitutes $109 daily. Substitutes in Blue Valley receive $99 daily while Shawnee Mission pays $95, Olathe pays $94, and Bonner Springs, De Soto and Eudora pay $90.

At the other end of the spectrum: Tonganoxie, $82, Leavenworth, $80; and Topeka, $70.

“We’re not competitive with most districts,” Rodriguez said.

She said the district needed about 75 substitute teachers on an average day. In some instances, including Friday, there haven’t enough people to fill all those slots. Better wages would help the district increase the group of potential substitutes, she said.

“If we had a larger pool, we wouldn’t have these problems,” she said.