For Leyten Lindstrom-Morley, LSE’s Payroll Office Professional, the most stressful part of her day happens before students are even in the building. When she sits down at her desk at 7:30 a.m., Lindstrom-Morley says that she sometimes feels a gnawing sense of anxiety start to rise before she opens her email. ‘How many classes will I need to get covered today?’ she wonders as she rushes on to what classes need to be covered.
Despite years of substitute shortages, LPS is finally seeing the numbers climb in a positive direction. More substitutes, new incentives, and improved tools like SmartFind have helped reduce unfilled classrooms across the district. But even with that progress, schools like LSE still face hectic mornings as staff sometimes scramble to cover classes.
Inside LSE, when no sub is available, Lindstrom-Morley works hard to secure class covers to fill those spots last minute.
“It can be pretty chaotic on days when we have a lot of teachers out with no subs, but our teachers at LSE are very willing to help, so it’s not often that we need to ask an admin to cover a class because no teachers can,” Lindstrom-Morley said.
Many substitutes return back to LSE because, according to Lindstrom-Morley, the teachers and staff at the school have developed positive and supportive relationships with subs. She also said student teachers have made a big difference when it comes to finding a substitute, as LSE staff has encouraged them to get their substitute license.“Our teachers must be doing a great job at talking to their student teachers about becoming a sub while they finish their degrees.” Lindstrom-Morley said. “We’ve had a lot of student teachers help as subs this year.”
Throughout the entire district, the LPS District Office is diligent about managing substitutes. Jenny Fundus, Ed.D, who is the Supervisor for Special Programs Personnel, works with hiring substitutes and helps to get substitutes certified. She said that the number of subs LPS has at the moment is the highest it has been in a long time. Over 100 substitutes have been hired since July 1, and the unfilled sub rates from each year have gone down over 30% since 2023. But, to stay an active substitute in LPS, you need to work at least 20 days a year or you will not be reactivated, a separation which happened to 166 subs in the last school year.
Substitutes also receive a $150 bonus on any Monday or Friday that they fill, which is due to the higher numbers of staff absences on these days. There are also incentive schools, which are on the outside areas of the city, where subs get paid an extra $29 to cover.
Fundus said it can be difficult to manage filling and hiring the sub roles.
“Matching those subs with the vacancies can become a really crazy puzzle piece of something,” Fundus said. “Once a month we give out an award to a substitute who has subbed the most. We also do nominations and a variety of different things.”
Fundus sees these awards and nominations as a way to help express the positivity that LPS offers to their subs.
Caitlin Marrow, a SmartFind Operator, assists with the hiring of substitute teachers, and is the first point of contact for new substitutes. Working with Darby Umholtz, who manages the SmartFind tool with running reports and data monitoring, they run the SmartFind system for LPS.
“The SmartFind system has been very helpful because it has so many ways for subs to get contacted,” Marrow explained. She also said the system has made it easier for subs to distinguish what subjects or school grades are their preferred option to teach. Additionally, Marrow said that SmartFind has made it easier for elementary schools to find subs, which is significant because elementary schools prefer to use a sub instead of a class cover due to the lack of periods.
The SmartFind tool, as Umholtz explained, is the key to solving the puzzle of substitute teachers. Umholtz also reflected on how it makes finding specific roles in a school besides a teacher much easier.
“SmartFind can be used for substitute teachers, [paraeducators] and health techs as well, so it isn’t just for teachers but can be used across the entire school.”
While substitute shortages haven’t disappeared, the combination of stronger recruitment, new incentives, and better tools has put LPS on a much more manageable path. With more subs available and a system that connects them to classrooms more efficiently, schools like LSE are better equipped to handle the unexpected. For now, the puzzle isn’t fully solved, but the district is finally working with the right pieces.
