WALES — Regional School Unit 4 will pay more in hopes of attracting substitute nurses.

The School Board voted Wednesday to increase the pay of nursing subs from $93 a day to $120 a day. The new pay puts the school system, which includes Sabattus, Litchfield and Wales, closer to the pay level of other area school systems, according to Superintendent Andrew Carlton.

“We want to make sure we have qualified people to fill those roles when necessary,” Carlton said. “The school nurse role is incredibly important, especially in today’s world.”

RSU 4 has four nursing positions. One is unfilled.

“It’s difficult (to fill),” Carlton said. “I’d love to have a sub to fill it until we find somebody, but I just haven’t been able to.”

Carlton said the school system has also struggled to attract nurses because there is a nursing shortage across health care and because the state requires school nurses to have a bachelor’s degree — a problem for nurses who are willing to work for the school system but have associate’s degrees.

Carlton believes the higher pay could help attract people.

“I’m hopeful it’ll create a sub pool for us,” he said.