Substitute Procedures

Substitute Office Guidelines

Purpose of a substitute

A substitute may be obtained at no cost (District covers) for teachers and some classified employees who are absent due to sick/family illness, personal leave, or jury duty (subject to restrictions).

Substitutes are available when an eligible position is vacant. The Campus Principal must be actively interviewing for the vacant position.

The following are charged to the school for a Substitute filling in for an employee:

1. Attending a professional development event or a local, state, or national conference.

2. Attending an ARD meeting

3. Campus testing to assist with administering STARR or IB testing.

   1. (Days are limited, please check with the Substitute Office.)

4. School Business (ex. UIL events)

5. Vacant Temporary Special Education Support positions

Employees eligible for substitutes

The Office of Human Capital has provided a list of positions eligible for daily substitutes.

Positions Eligible for Day-to-Day Substitutes

Child Care Worker

ISS Monitor

Teacher Assistant

Teacher

Positions Eligible for Long-Term Substitutes (FMLA, Parenting Leave, Admin Leave, LWOP, etc.)

Academic Director/Dean

Assistant Principal

Athletic Trainer

Clerical (elementary only)

Counselor

Evaluator for Educational Diagnostics

Evaluator Specialist in School Psychology

Librarian (only those without a Library Clerk)

Licensed Mental Health Professional (LMHP)

Occupational Therapist (OT)

Principal

Security Guard

Speech Pathologist

Anything charged to the school will contain a “CP” in the account number.  For example: 199-11-6112.CP-XXX-Y-11. (To divert the cost to another account, a Substitute Charge Authorization Form must be submitted with the correct account number and signatures.) Substitute Charge Authorization forms should be sent to the Finance Department.

Substitute office guidelines (continued)

Accountability & exclusions

The campus is responsible for all absences/vacancies listed in Absence Management. Eligible employees must create and remove assignments in a timely manner for substitutes to be aware of changes. Employees should pre-arrange substitutes in advance as much as possible to fill their absences.  Campuses should create Preferred and Permanent lists to ensure absences/vacancies are filled on a daily basis.

Professional Development (PD)

Employees must have a substitute in the assignment prior to attendance. No PD is allowed on Monday or Friday (District Policy). If a substitute does not pick-up the assignment, there are two options:

1. Campus covers

2. Employee cannot go to PD

Supplemental Pay vs. Substitute Pay

Substitutes can be requested by a campus to provide extra support. However, these assignments should not be entered into Absence Management. The campus must pay out of their own budget, and the substitute must receive compensation through Supplemental Pay. The campus holds full responsibility to notify the substitute of pay.

Parental Notification

The campus must provide written notification to parent/guardian of each student in a classroom, if a substitute teacher is assigned to the same classroom for more than 30 consecutive instructional days during the same school year and is not certified in that specific area. A sample letter is provided to the CSCs in orientation.

Exclusions

Campus administrators have the right to exclude any substitute teacher or classified substitute from the campus for any reason. The administrator should contact the substitute to discuss the exclusion. The Substitute Office will need to receive the completed Exclusion Form to process.

Substitutes may provide a written response to an exclusion. Three exclusions may lead to automatic removal from the District substitute roster and should be considered a termination of employment. Policy DC (REG).

Responsibilities of Campus Substitute Coordinator (CSC)

The Campus Substitute Coordinator is a clerical staff member on the campus. The responsibilities of a CSC are the following:

1. Ensure substitutes sign in and out every day

2. Checks accuracy and reconciles absences/vacancies on a daily basis.

3. Submit appropriate forms to the Substitute Office substitute office guidelines (continued)

4. Provide support and resources to substitutes, such as a welcome folder, schedules, map, safety procedures, etc.

5. Assist campus staff with login credentials and long-term absences.

6. Familiarize campus staff with Absence Management guidelines.

7. Welcome substitutes to the campus.

Substitute pay incentive

Though the District’s goal is to have an adequate pool of substitute teachers to provide coverage for teachers who are absent, the agreement between Education Austin and AISD recognizes the benefit of using existing campus staff on a short-term basis when a campus is unable to secure a substitute.  This use of existing campus staff as substitutes under this agreement is only authorized under defined circumstances and as permitted by and District policy.

Eligibility

The following campus employees may be eligible to provide substitute coverage under the agreement:

1. Teachers who are allocated an extra planning period during the school day in addition to their state-mandated planning period under Texas Education Code Section 21.404; and

2. Special Education teacher assistants (TAs) who are regularly assigned to a special education classroom to provide whole-class support.

Exclusions

1. Teachers shall not provide substitute coverage during their state-mandated planning period under Texas Education Code section 21.404.

2. Teachers will not receive additional compensation when additional students are temporarily assigned to their classrooms due to a teacher’s absence.

3. Special Education TAs assigned as one-to-one aides to a student shall not provide substitute coverage.

4. Special Education TAs for whom a substitute assignment would result in one or more students not receiving services or supports specified in an individualized education program shall not provide substitute coverage.

5. Special Education TAs may not provide substitute coverage if doing so would cause them to accrue overtime.

6. Is limited to eligible teachers and Special Education TAs and does not apply to any other campus or District personnel.

Selection for Assignment

The selection of an employee to provide substitute coverage under this agreement is at the discretion of the campus principal, considering the needs of the class involved, the employee’s regular duties, the employee’s performance, and the needs of the campus in general.  In addition, a campus principal may only assign a Special Education TA to provide substitute office guidelines (continued) substitute coverage to a special education classroom to which the TA is regularly assigned.  Nothing in the agreement guarantees that any teacher of Special Education TA will be selected to provide substitute coverage. 

Limitation

A teacher or Special Education TA may not provide substitute coverage for more than five (5) consecutive workdays for a single teacher without prior approval from the Chief Officer or Human Capital or a designee OR the Substitute Services Office.

Compensation

1. 2025-26 Compensation Manual

2. A Special Education TA who provides substitute coverage will receive an hourly rate of the current substitute rate divided by 7.5 hours to determine the hourly additional amount.

3. A Compensation pay code has been established to pay teachers and Special Education TAs who provide substitute coverage.

4. A teacher of Special Education TA will be required to accept a substitute assignment in Absence management to verify the assignment and to ensure accurate payment. (Still a work in process. Currently the Campus Substitute Coordinator submits a Google spreadsheet.)

5. Campus timekeepers, campus substitute coordinators, teachers, and Special Education TAs will be responsible for tracking time worked at the campus level.

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