Methacton’s Award of Excellence honorees for October 2021 represent Arcola Intermediate School. They are: Kelly Ames, Health/PE Teacher; Tara Cantello, Science Teacher; Joni Cosgriff, School Nurse; Aimee Holtz, Instructional Assistant; Jennine McFate, Instructional Assistant; and, Aimee Stratton, Office Assistant.

All of these outstanding staff members provide support for students, staff, and our community. They are valuable team members and we are pleased to share with everyone how much we appreciate their commitment to the students of the Methacton School District.

Substitute Update

Dr. Jason Sorgini, Director of Human Resources, presented a plan to address several long term and day-to-day substitute challenges within the district. He outlined the fact that Methacton, similar to most school districts in the Commonwealth, is challenged with finding qualified substitute teachers. The challenge has been trending for the last 6 to 8 years and is now exasperated due to labor shortages, certification shortages and general health concerns given fears of COVID-19.

It is of primary concern that the total number of teaching certifications issued annually by the Pennsylvania Department of Education has fallen to approximately one-third of the certifications issued just 10 years ago. This limits the pool size of available candidates for substitute and permanent positions. In order to address the shortages, the district has been looking at a number options including the utilization of existing staff for coverages where appropriate, utilizing the Substitute Teacher Service (STS) to locate and assign substitutes, and instituting another round of Guest Teacher Program training.

Specifically, Dr. Sorgini presented that it currently takes 45 days for long-term substitutes to reach a $249.54 per day rate. This is the daily rate that takes into consideration all extra duties required of a long-term substitute including lesson planning, grading and parent communication. Dr. Sorgini believes that shortening the time to reach the top rate from 45 days to 4 days will help attract more certified professionals to Methacton.

Fidevia provided the Board with an update on the construction projects at Arrowhead Elementary School and Eagleville Elementary School. Click here to read the October progress report for both projects. You can also keep up with the latest on the Arrowhead construction project by visiting https://www.methacton.org/ArrowheadConstruction and the Eagleville construction project by visiting https://www.methacton.org/EaglevilleConstruction.