BUTLER TWP — Substitute health care professionals will see an additional $100 when they fill in at Butler Area School District for at least the rest of this school year.

The district school board voted Monday to increase the pay for substitute health care professionals, those who have an R.N. designation, from $100 a day to $200 a day.

District Superintendent Brian White said the school district has been short on nurses and health care professionals “almost every day.“ The district has students that require medical services throughout its schools, who rely more on nurse care than some other students.

At full capacity, the district has 16 health care professionals, and White said they sometimes have to move from building to building to cover for one who is out.

“We cannot afford not to have nursing coverage,” White said. “When it’s short, we are pulling a nurse out — it’s just not ideal with the student population.”

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