The Substitute Committee shall plan/implement Association activities involving substitute teachers, including recruiting new substitute members, developing professional growth opportunities for substitutes, and encouraging substitutes to become active members of all PAT committees, as well as representatives to the PAT, OEA, and NEA representative assemblies.

Chairpersons:

• Ian Mullin - Substitute

Staff Liaison:

Board Liaison: Beyoung Yu, Atkinson ES

Synergy and Printers

• To find Synergy: Go to my.pps (https://myapps.classlink.com/home)
• To use Synergy: PPS Guide to Synergy
• If you have issues: [email protected] or call 503-916-3375
• PPS guide to printer access

General Help

• Please fill out the Site Report Form after each job to share what issues you encountered at the site. This includes a lack of sub plans/no sub binder, any issues with assignment changes, anything that prevents you from being an effective guest educator at a school.
• Did you know that Substitute Educators can NOW apply for unemployment during Winter and Summer break?
  • Learn more from the Oregon Unemployment Website HERE.
• Here is the PPS Substitute Educator webpage
• Sick Leave information: 
  • PPS Substitute sick leave request form
  • PPS Leave information
  • PPS Sick Leave policy

Know Your Contract

• • Frequently Asked Questions about TSPC 

• 2024-2026 Collective Bargaining Agreement

Contract Keynotes

Incentive Schools, Incentive Pay, Work Incentive, and ACE Substitutes

A puzzling question: Why does our new contract include two new incentive pay programs but not incentive schools, like it did in 2023-24? Two reasons. 

First, your bargaining team negotiated a huge change in how our pay is figured. Instead of 20223/24’s base of row B, a salary of $54,954 that earned us $248/day, we moved our base to row C, a salary of $59,381 this year ($266/day) and $61,187 next year ($276/day). That’s more than an 11 percent increase across two years. Our percentage of those bases moved from 86.5 to 87.0, not much, it may seem, but giving us much more leverage as we are approaching another bargaining session. 

Second, during the 2023/24 school year the district tried to underpay those of us who worked at incentive schools (those buildings where getting substitutes is particularly difficult). They only paid an extra $15 for a full day and $10 for a half-day when, in fact, our agreement said the incentive pay was $50 and $35. (These higher amounts were negotiated during Covid in a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA), a side accord, when substitutes were scarce.) We grieved, we won, and in the summer of 2024, we got the difference in one lump sum—plus some ice cream! Approximate cost of the back pay to the district: $536,000. 

In the 2024/25 school year, the school board said “no more incentive schools,” but the district had to find a way to attract us to underserved buildings. Hence, the “Work Incentive” and the “ACE Educators Program” (in the contract called “Regional Substitute Educators”).

The first, the Work Incentive, says if we work 70% of the first trimester, PPS gives us a bonus of $250; if 87%, $100 more. The second trimester is similar: 70% earns $350, 87% $150 more. The third: 70% nets $450, 87% $150.  

The second, the Ace program, supposedly offers higher rates of pay, immediate insurance coverage, professional development, and strict requirements for work: every Monday, Thursday, and Friday, the full week before winter and spring breaks, the weeks before and after Memorial Day—all at schools to be determined by the district, not by the substitute.

The program started February 2024 with three substitutes signing up for it, although one of them dropped pretty early on. (Leaving early would necessitate repaying insurance premiums.) They have plans to institute it in the 2025-26 school year, however with all of the HR shuffle that has happened, there hasn’t been much movement on the district’s end.
So, what does all this have to do with incentive pay? At the bargaining table, the district tried to balance its budget, save money, placate the board, and still get us to work at incentive schools. Their two new programs may or may not work. The Work Incentive is in effect this year and next; ACE has been requested to attempt for the 2025-26 school year, however HR has not made any momentum on this initiative during the HR shuffle. To continue it would require negotiating with us, the PAT substitute team. And if either one or both are not working, we did not give up the wording for the Incentive Pay program in the contract, meaning it could be revived at any time.

But wait . . . there’s more! In exchange for not having incentive schools for the time being, remember: we negotiated insurance eligibility after 55 work days, not 70 days as has been the case. And sick days now can be included in those 55 work days. This is big for us.
Bottom line: We gained a lot of ground financially (salary and insurance) in the new contract, and we gave up nothing. 

–Ed Curtin, bargaining team member

Prep Period Coverage

Per Article 8, Section C of our contract:

Administrators may not direct a substitute to switch to an assignment other than the one they have accepted, but an administrator may request such a change which a substitute may accept.

This means you cannot be required to cover another class during your prep period—you can be asked, but it is your choice to accept or decline. This is true even for middle school guest teachers who have two preps per day.

When PAT bargained for our contract, we fought to be paid for covering preps, but PPS rejected that proposal. As a compromise, our contract ensures that prep time belongs to us, and we have the right to say no to covering another class.

If you are directed (not just asked) to cover a class during your prep:

1. Ask for clarification: “Are you directing me to cover this class?”
2. If it is a directive, comply—then begin the grievance process.

To file a grievance, contact one of the following:

• Your sub representative (if you're unsure who that is, see below).
• Ian Mullin (PAT Substitute Committee Chair) – [email protected]
• Bao Nguyen (OEA Representative) – [email protected]

If you feel pressured to cover, rather than simply being asked, submit a Site Report Form (also found on the right "Quick Links" section of the Substitute Educator's Web Page). You're also welcome to reach out to a PAT representative

You are also encouraged to report incidents to The Brain, a form used by the PAT Substitute Committee to track patterns and bring concerns to the district: 

IEP & 504 Plan Access

As guest teachers, we are entitled to access students’ IEP and 504 plan information. If you are not provided access, this is a contract violation. You can report this by completing a Site Report Form.

When someone from PAT spoke with PPS IT, it sounds like the system currently does not allow for short-term subs to have access, but long-term subs and temporary teachers do have access to IEP’s and 504’s. It sounds like this is an internal PPS issue more than an outside issue. PAT has floated the idea that if they cannot fix it, we may need to reopen and bargain over the issue.

PPS Handbook

• PPS Substitute handbook
• PPS Substitute Quick-guide

Sick Leave

• PPS Substitute sick leave request form
• PPS Leave information
• PPS Sick Leave policy

Paystub (finding and interpreting)

How to find your pay stubs:

• Log into my.pps
• Navigate to PeopleSoft Self Service
• Here you can find your last paystub, apply to other district wide jobs, and update your personal info. 

What to do if your pay stub is incorrect:

• If your pay stub does not reflect the correct amount, you must reach out directly to the sub office via email or phone. As a note, the payroll department will not help you with any pay issue, and will instead refer you to the sub office. 
  • Sub Office Email: [email protected]
  • Sub Office Phone: 503-916-3330

How to read your pay stub:

• Below is a link to a handy-dandy pdf that will walk you through each section of your pay stub.
• https://www.pps.net/cms/lib/OR01913224/Centricity/Domain/209/Understanding_Your_PPS_Paystub.pdf

District Calendar

• 24-25 PPS District Calendar PDF
• Online Events Calendar

Substitute Committee Meetings

2024/25 School year slides:

• September slides
• October slides
• December slides
• January slides
• February slides
• April slides
• May slides

Find Your Substitute Rep

Every substitute in PPS is assigned a Substitute Representative by PAT. Sub Reps are elected each year—anyone can run! We will have our upcoming election and then we can assign new Substitute reps. You can contact your sub rep with any questions you have. 

2024/25 Reps

Every substitute in PPS is assigned a Substitute Representative by PAT. Sub Reps are elected each year—anyone can run! Contact your sub rep with any questions you have. Check the list below to find your representative based on the letter range of last names (i.e. Jane Doe’s rep would be Mara Dale). 

Reports and Grievances

• Report something to PPS: PPS Site report form
• Report something to Substitute Committee: PAT Substitute Committee Contact form (aka “The Brain” or “The Substitute Committee Brain”)

Important Contacts

The original spreadsheet lives here.

Pulled from PPS Substituting page:

Pulled from PPS Substitute Handbook:

• PPS Leave information
• PPS Sick Leave policy

Paystub (finding and interpreting)

How to find your pay stubs:

• Log into my.pps
• Navigate to PeopleSoft Self Service
• Here you can find your last paystub, apply to other district wide jobs, and update your personal info. 

What to do if your pay stub is incorrect:

• If your pay stub does not reflect the correct amount, you must reach out directly to the sub office via email or phone. As a note, the payroll department will not help you with any pay issue, and will instead refer you to the sub office. 
  • Sub Office Email: [email protected]
  • Sub Office Phone: 503-916-3330

How to read your pay stub:

• Below is a link to a handy-dandy pdf that will walk you through each section of your pay stub.
• https://www.pps.net/cms/lib/OR01913224/Centricity/Domain/209/Understanding_Your_PPS_Paystub.pdf

District Calendar

• Online Events Calendar

Substitute Committee Meetings

Find Your Substitute Rep

Every substitute in PPS is assigned a Substitute Representative by PAT. Sub Reps are elected each year—anyone can run! Contact your sub rep with any questions you have. If you would like to know who your rep is please email our PAT VP Alisha Chavez, [email protected]

Reports and Grievances

• Report something to PPS: PPS Site report form
• Report something to Substitute Committee: PAT Substitute Committee Contact form (aka “The Brain” or “The Substitute Committee Brain”)

Important Contacts

Original spreadsheet lives here.

Pulled from PPS Substituting page:

Pulled from PPS Substitute Handbook: