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Steamboat Springs — Pay for substitute teachers has increased in the Steamboat Springs School District.

On Monday, the Steamboat Springs School Board voted to raise certified substitute teachers' pay to $110 per day. It previously was $85.

Non-certified substitute teachers will make $95, an increase of $15 per day.

"We wanted to respond to the shortage" of substitutes in the district, Superintendent Donna Howell said.

Non-certified substitute teachers must obtain a one-year substitute authorization from the state to teach in a classroom.

According to figures provided by the district Monday, Steamboat's daily rate for certified substitutes is more than either Moffat County or Eagle County.

"We are competitive," Howell said.

The pay increase came through two Collaborative Bargaining Team meetings. Attorneys representing the School Board and the Steamboat Springs Education Association reviewed the plans to ensure changes complied with the district's negotiated policies.

The bargaining team adjusted the pay scale and will revisit the negotiated policy on substitute pay at the end of the year.

The increase in substitute pay should have little to no impact on the budget for the 2006-07 school year, assuming the district doesn't have a sharp spike in the need for substitute teachers.

Last year, substitute teachers worked 1,446 days. Using the same number of days and $110 as the pay rate, the district is estimated to spend $159,060 on substitute teachers this year.

That is $100 more than originally budgeted.

"I wanted to increase at an amount that we could afford and sustain," Howell said.

On the 11th day in the same classroom, a district substitute would make $125 per day. Long-term substitutes, who work for one grading period, would receive $169.63 per day.