Connect Mid Michigan (10/08/12) Mark Slavit

School board members in the Columbia, MO, public school district are considering hiring Kelly Services to help fill substitute teacher positions. Last year, the Columbia public school district had a 93% fill rate with an average of six jobs a day. The Springfield, MO public school district uses Kelly Services and gets a 99% response from temporary employees.

Columbia Public Schools spokeswoman Michelle Baumstark says, “Right now, we are doing all of the work internally. We are not doing as good of a job as we would like to see. Our teachers need to know that there is some reliability there. Our students need to know that. We can do better.” Kelly Services officials plan to charge school administrators about $328,000 a year for substitute teacher services.