Nearly 800 substitute coordinators, HR leaders, and district administrators logged on for the fourth annual Substitute Management Symposium, the largest virtual gathering of its kind in the world. Hosted by Red Rover and the Substitute Management Advisory Council, this year's event delivered exactly what attendees came for: practical ideas they could put into practice the next morning to support substitute teachers and reinforce their value in sustaining educational continuity within the communities they serve.
We kicked off the event by asking attendees what they see as their biggest pain point. The results weren't surprising, but did underscore long-standing challenges: 37% said filling absences quickly, 32% said recruiting and retaining substitutes, and 20% said ensuring substitute quality and training. Budgeting came in last at just 5%.
In other words, the challenge isn't money. It's people, systems, and support.
The theme running through the day? Substitutes aren't placeholders. They're educators. And the districts treating them that way are seeing results.
A Mindset Shift
Keynote speaker Jon Colby set the tone early, drawing on 27 years of improv experience, as well as 15 years as a teacher, to offer a deceptively simple framework: "Yes, and."
Find agreement first, then add your perspective. Celebrate wins before addressing what needs work. And when you're feeling stuck, ask yourself whether you're actually stuck, or just adding fake rules that don't exist.
"It's like you're putting a puzzle together and people are constantly taking away pieces and giving you new pieces," Colby said, quoting a sub coordinator friend. One attendee put it more simply in the chat: "It's Tetris."
That puzzle-solving mentality carried into the panel discussion on substitute success, where speakers challenged the room to rethink how they talk about (and to) their substitute workforce. Jay Midwood, former Director of Human Resources in Rhode Island, shared that his district didn't even use the word "sub." They called them "teaching fellows."
"Gone are the days of showing Finding Nemo when a substitute is there," Midwood said. "We only have 180 instructional days. Just one day of inconsistent, high-quality education really does impact our students."
Tina Limmer of Puyallup School District offered a reframe that resonated throughout the day: "We don't have a substitute problem. We have a teacher absence problem."
What's Actually Working
The most energizing moments came when practitioners shared tactics they've tested and the results they've seen.
Andy Moore, Assistant Superintendent in Shelby County, Kentucky, walked through how his district redesigned long-term substitute pay. They dropped the threshold from 20 consecutive days to 10 and made it retroactive to day one. Fill rates jumped above 90% for the first time in four years. "That was probably the most successful thing we've done thus far," Moore said.
He also discovered a pay equity issue worth auditing: classified staff were earning more per hour than substitutes leading classrooms. Fixing that mattered.
On recruiting, Substitute Management Advisory Council Executive Director, Jamie West, formerly of Lake County Schools, encouraged attendees to think beyond job fairs. Her team set up at football games, volleyball matches, and school events — anywhere community members are already showing up. The pitch to parents doing pickup and drop-off? "You're already here as the classroom mom. Why not stay the whole day?"
The biggest fear for substitutes, multiple speakers noted, is special education classrooms. The solution isn't to avoid the topic. It's to address it head-on with professional development that demystifies what different SpEd settings look like. "We fear what we don't know," West said. "If we give them all the information possible, those walls come down."
Lake County saw a struggling middle school go from "in the red" to "in the green" after a new principal started greeting subs with a gift bag with water, chips, a school-logo item, and a handwritten thank-you card. Simple gestures, real impact.
Recognition That Resonates
One idea that lit up the chat: "Subs for Subs."Local sandwich shops like Subway and Jersey Mike's are often happy to help. Ask for donated gift cards. "What's the worst they're going to say? No," West said. "Just go to the Subway that's two miles away. That one might say yes."
Other recognition ideas shared throughout the day included student-designed thank-you cards, end-of-year drive-through appreciation events, and creating a Substitute Teacher of the Year award; just like Teacher of the Year.
DianeHowell, district substitute coordinator for Hamilton Southeastern Schools, reminded the group that recognition doesn't have to be elaborate, and that subs aren’t doing what they’re doing for the money, they want to be seen as an essential contributor to learning: "The second most important thing to subs, besides geography, is a thank-you from the building admin."
Looking Ahead
Attendees chose from three breakout sessions midday. Emily Douglas-McNab led a session on AI, making the case that it's not the future. It's the present. Red Rover leaders covered modern workforce management, showing how automation and real-time data can reduce administrative burden and improve payroll accuracy. There was also a hands-on session on managing subs with Red Rover, focused on improving fill rates and staffing visibility. Substitute managers are already using AI to draft recruitment marketing, analyze absence trends, and generate onboarding materials. The key, Douglas-McNab emphasized, is prompt quality: "If you're getting stuff out of AI that's not very good, I'm sorry, but that means the problem is you."
She also offered a critical reminder: never input personally identifiable information, always verify AI output, and stay informed as capabilities evolve.
Celebrating the Work
The day closed with announcing this year's Sub Manager of the Year Award Winner: Sofia Alvarez of Glenbrook High School District in Illinois. Sofia was recognized for her strong relationships with substitutes and staff and her unwavering commitment to making every guest teacher feel welcome and part of the school community.
Red Rover’s CEO, Dani O'Shaughnessey summed up why events like this matter in his closing remarks: "Substitute teaching is more important than people know. And this work of managing substitutes, your work, has far too long been unrecognized and undervalued."
The numbers back that up. On any given day, more than 250,000 substitutes are in classrooms across the country, teaching roughly 5 million students. That's not a logistics problem. That's an educational opportunity.
As Jay Midwood put it: "Substitute teachers are superheroes every single day helping districts keep their head above water." This is exactly why we hosted this event – to empower sub managers with the tactics and strategies they can put into practice now to support these invaluable educators and ensure their success in the classroom.
The 2026 Substitute Management Symposium was hosted by Red Rover and the Substitute Management Advisory Council. Learn more at RedRoverK12.com and smacouncil.com.
