Substitute Specialist

NORTHWEST INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT

Title: Substitute Specialist (0401A)
Reports To: Director of Elementary Recruitment and Retention
Dept./Campus: Human Resources
Duty Days: 235 Days
Wage/Hour Status: Exempt
Pay Grade: A05
Date Revised: 01/2021

Primary Purpose:
Provide leadership, vision and direction to the district’s guest educator (substitute teacher) program by focusing efforts on recruitment, training, support, recognition and retention. Ensure uninterrupted educational process by providing support in scheduling and monitoring all guest educator placements for the District. Develop and execute an ongoing recruitment plan to maintain an adequate number of guest educators for each campus. Act as the point-of-contact at the district level for guest educators and campuses, addressing issues and providing support. Monitor daily absences and assist campuses in making direct contact with guest educators to increase fill rates. Ensure personnel functions confirm to all applicable regulatory requirements.

Qualifications:

High School Diploma or GED required

Minimum of two (2) years successful experience at the campus or district level working with substitute coordination and online absence management system preferred

Excellent human relations skills demonstrating the ability to establish and maintain effective relationships with campus staff, district staff, and guest educators

Ability to work within strict scheduling and deadlines

Demonstrate creativity, initiative and dedication to task

Knowledge and talent in designing varied recruitment tools

Analytical problem-solving skills, understanding of root causes and ability to implement change

Accurately detect and resolve technical problems related to the Substitute system

Attention to detail and ability to follow tasks through to completion

Create and maintain spreadsheets, databases, and presentations

Ability to implement rules and procedures related to substitutes

Effective presentation skills to small and large groups

Demonstrate high level of professionalism in attitude, appearance, and office demeanor

Major Duties and Responsibilities:

• Proactively provide leadership to the District’s guest educator program.
• Act as the point of contact at the District level for guest educators, teachers and campus contacts.
• Develop an ongoing recruiting plan to onboard new quality substitute teachers and maintain an adequate substitute teacher pool. Plans should be developed and executed for both district and campus recruitment.
• Prepare, distribute, receive, and process guest educator applications. Organize and lead the screening of guest educator applicants.
• Create, distribute, and review RIVS digital interviews to identify qualified guest educator applicants.
• Prepare and submit onboarding of initial employment documentation.
• Work cooperatively with payroll and HR staff to ensure accuracy of guest educator compensation based on credentials and length of assignment.
• Monitor certification in long-term assignments, notifying campus administrators and the Director of Elementary Recruitment and Retention when parent notification is required.
• Partner with Benefits and Risk Management to ensure compliance with ACA requirements.
• Review and respond appropriately to the evaluation process of guest educators and classroom teachers. Communicate directly with guest educators and campus contacts as needed to adequately address concerns and take appropriate steps for improvement.
• Develop and maintain effective positive relationships with guest educators, teachers, administrators and campus contacts.
• Follow up with guest educators after completion of first assignments to obtain feedback and offer support/guidance.
• Manage and direct the automated substitute system and district systems, including data entry and generation of reports (e.g., guest educator certification lists, absences reports, daily fill rates, and utilization reports).
• Develop and deliver training to administrators, campus contacts, office staff, and guest educators on the use of the automated absence management system.
• Receive and process requests for guest educators, monitoring daily fill rates and assisting the campus in making personal contact with guest educators at the beginning and end of each day to ensure coverage of all staff absences.
• Proactively work with campuses and guest educators to plan and assign class coverage on district training dates and/or high absentee dates.
• Monitor and analyze guest educator daily fill rates and provide feedback to HR administration and campus contacts when fill rates fall below 90%. Determine the root cause of the low fill rates and develop a plan of action for improvement to share with campus and HR administration.
• Provide weekly reports to administration and campus administrators to include campus fill rates, position fill rates, analysis of reasons, and relevant data.
• Collaborate, train, and support campus contacts to target increasing fill rates.
• Analyze, review and recommend guest educator compensation by conducting market comparisons to area districts.
• Develop, maintain, and execute a program to provide recognition to exceptional guest educators.
• Create, develop and maintain database for long-term assignments to include list of certification areas and those who have expressed interest.
• Submit a list of certified guest educators to campus administrators and coordinate guest educator placement for vacant and growth positions.
• Organize, schedule and participate in the delivery of guest educator orientation and training.
• Identify, plan, and design initiatives that improve staff efficiency and process enhancements for the guest educator program.
• Prepare, track, and distribute letters of reasonable assurance to guest educators.
• Create, organize and distribute timely information, tips and reminders for the monthly Guest Educator/Point of Contact newsletters.
• Prepare regular and special reports as requested.
• Perform other duties as assigned by the administration.

Supervisory Duties:

N/A

Equipment Used:
Personal computer, printer, copier, software programs and applications

Working Conditions:

Maintain emotional control under stress, work with frequent interruptions. This position requires occasional prolonged and irregular hours. Repetitive hand motions and prolonged use of computer. Position requires frequent bending, stooping, twisting, pulling, overhead reaching, sitting, and keyboarding. Position requires the ability to lift 25 pounds to waist high.

This document describes the general purpose and responsibilities assigned to this job and is not an exhaustive list of all responsibilities and duties that may be assigned, alternative methods of performing your duties, or skills that may be required.