? for those paid on teacher scale

[Happy Go Lucky]

Hi, I've been substitute school nursing and love it. I am considering doing the school nursing certificate required by New Jersey in order to do it full time, but am wondering whether it makes sense. There is such a need in my area that I can work every day if I want to through the agency I work for, and the pay is good. Can anyone tell me how NJ schools pay staff school nurses? I understand for public schools it is on the teacher pay scale, which would be ok if they place me on the step scale according to my years of total RN experience (13), but not so okay if they place me on the step scale by how much school nursing experience I have.

If anyone could give me some insight into how it works, I would appreciate it. I hate to spend the money & go through getting the certificate if it would result in being paid less and more restrictions on time off, when I am pretty happy with the agency flexibility and pay. I don't need the health benefits, and while the option to get into the pension system is attractive, the pay scale thing is definitely the deciding factor.

[kmazur15]

On 10/9/2019 at 7:53 AM, MHDNURSE said:

Not in NJ (I'm in MA) but I just started in a new district and was shocked to learn that I get ALL my experience counted! So I am on step 12 which is the highest bracket here and I am brand new this year! It feels really nice to have all my experience and work finally be recognized. I feel like nurses really should get credit for all the years and work we put in, regardless of the specialty/area of practice.

Can you tell me which district/school you work for? I'm trying to get all my nursing years of experienced considered and am trying to find other districts that have approved previous nursing experience.
Thanks!

On 10/9/2019 at 5:28 PM, Nursemomof4 said:

Is it the same as the teachers pay scale?

It totally varies by District. For example, like I said, my district (Salem) pays on the teacher salary scale and pays for all my experience, degrees, etc. However, in the town where I live which is right next door, they only count full years of school nursing as experience. If I were working in my own district where I live, I would be making $15K less than I do now. Also, different districts have rules about maxing out at the top of the scale. I know in a couple of towns near me, nurses can only make it to Step 9 or 10, so they max out before teachers do. I would do some poking around online. A lot of salary scales for districts are posted on line and you can also read the contracts on line to see where the nurses fall.

10 hours ago, kmazur15 said:

Can you tell me which district/school you work for

Salem, MA

On 10/12/2019 at 8:30 AM, Happy Go Lucky said:

As much as I think I'd love to have my "own" school (instead of subbing), it doesn't make much sense for me at this point.

Interestingly, in both the district where I live (not work) and the neighboring district, they pay subs way more than the FT nurses. It's crazy. One district pays them $33/hr vs. FT nurses around $26-28 depending on years of employment. The other district pays almost $40/hr ? Meanwhile in my own district where I work, subs are paid an abysmal $120/day!!! So sometimes it is worth sticking with sub pay if you don't need the benefits.

[geminiwanderlust]

Zero of my ten years of other nursing experience counted when i became a school nurse. I was started on step zero of the teacher salary scale. I have heard that other nearby districts give 1/2 credit for years experience; I even tried to negotiate with no luck. I do struggle with the pay cut more than I thought I would. Even though my annual salary looks okay on paper, they take out so much of each check for retirement pension and union dues.