Sub firm's responsibilities reduced by Philly

Source4Teachers, the New Jersey firm hired to fix the Philadelphia School District's substitute-teaching problem, has struggled since the beginning of the school year to fill the hundreds of vacancies in city classrooms each day. Many have called for its two-year, $34 million contract to be cancelled.

The superintendent described it in an email to employees Thursday by saying that its relationship with Source4Teachers "has not worked as anticipated."

The district has announced Thursday that it was changing the way it did things - but stopping short of halting Source4Teachers' work.

Source4Teachers will continue to staff short-term substitute vacancies. The district will take back the staffing of long-term vacancies.

In an email sent to staff Thursday morning, Superintendent William R. Hite Jr. said he understood some people would say that the district should simply cut ties with the firm that managed to fill about 30 percent of open jobs at its peak performance recently.

Cancelling the contract "would not be a good approach for our students or our schools," Hite said in the email. "Right now, there is a pool of 265 eligible substitute teachers, with another 400-plus people in the pipeline once their required clearances are complete. If we cancel the S4T contract, we would lose this pool of teachers."

Hite also noted that ending the contract would not save money. Source4Teachers is paid only for the positions it fills.

Under the old system, where the district handled staffing all short- and long-term vacancies, the district managed to staff about 60 percent of jobs on any given day.

"Available substitutes frequently turned down jobs in certain schools and neighborhoods. Absences were not accurately tracked and there were not nearly enough eligible or trained candidates. And, unfortunately, rules were taken advantage of," Hite wrote.

Hite acknowledged the strain the Source4Teachers situation had put on schools and employees. When vacancies go unfilled, existing teachers must now give up preparation periods to cover classes.

The superintendent wrote on Thursday that teachers will be compensated for their prep coverages at mid-year, not just at the end of the year as is customary.

Source4Teachers has defended its performance, taking steps to boost pay that particularly outraged retired teachers, who make up a significant portion of the substitute-teacher pool. It said it has also added more recruiters and streamlined the hiring process.

Some would-be subs have described the firm's hiring process as complicated and unwieldy.

This is a developing story. Please check back for more details.