April 21, 2008

How To Code Absences When A

Teacher Assistant Subs For A Teacher

When a currently employed teacher assistant subs for a teacher, they are entitled to an additional payment which represents the difference between their current daily rate and the daily rate of a noncertified teacher. How this sub pay is coded depends upon several factors, including whether a sub is to be employed for the teacher assistant while he/she is subbing for the teacher.
The basic rule of thumb is that the school district will only pay for one full sub day for any given full day’s absence;any additional costs are to be paid for by the individual school. If a teacher is absent, you may either hire the teacher assistant as a sub OR hire an “outside” sub. If a teacher assistant is hired as the sub AND a sub is hired in the place of the teacher assistant, the individual school will be responsible for paying the sub pay and benefits costs of the teacher assistant.

EXAMPLE #1: Teacher is out on sick leave and teacher assistant is asked to take a “leadership role” in the classroom; no sub is hired for the teacher assistant. In this case the absence is coded “01” and the teacher assistant is keyed into SPEED as the sub. The sub pay will be paid from the same source of funds as the teacher, like any other sub on a sick leave day; the school will not have to pay any additional costs.

EXAMPLE #2: Teacher is out on sick leave and teacher assistant is asked to take a “leadership role” in the classroom; a sub is hired for the teacher assistant. In this case, school district policy is that the hired sub will be paid for from the same source of funds as the teacher assistant (since they subbed for the teacher assistant), but the extra pay for the teacher assistant who is acting as a sub will be paid for by the school.

The coding for this is as follows:

  • Teacher’s absence should be coded as an “01-SP” (“school-paid”) absence, and the teacher assistant is to be listed as the substitute. The result will be that the teacher will be charged for a sick leave day and the school will be billed for the cost of the teacher assistant sub.
  • The Teacher Assistant’s day should be coded as an “04-OT” (“other”) absence, and the regular hired sub is to be listed as the substitute for the teacher assistant. The teacher assistant will not be charged with an absence, and the sub will be paid for from the same source of funds as the teacher assistant’s pay.

Please remember that you must “re-code” any Reason “04” absences in SPEED each month by completing the next two digits “sub-code” for each absence, because they come over incomplete from the SubFinder System. Reason “04” absences that are not corrected before downloading your payroll each month will be billed to the school.

Your assigned payroll specialist may be able to help with any questions you have about coding absences and substitutes. Please call us at 727-2843 if we can assist you.

WS/FCS Financial Services Department