Date: September 23, 2026
To: All Administrators and Secretaries
From: Nathan Elkins, Director HRS – Certified
Subject: Roving Substitute Guidelines Message:
During the 2023-24 school year, we authorized schools to use the roving substitute code for emergency situations in which a special education paraprofessional was unavailable for continuity of services. We also authorized the use of the roving sub code for PE instructors at the elementary level to ensure there was no break in PE programming. In some cases, the need for a roving sub in either of these situations was due to a vacancy in that specific position, and our hope was that allowing schools to use the substitute pool would help buy time to find a more permanent solution through the hiring process. Unfortunately, in some cases, the roving substitute became the long-term solution, and the respective positions were never filled. Consequently, the abundant use of roving substitutes over the past year created situations in which regular substitutes were not available for classroom assignments in addition to an unsustainable increase to the district's substitute expenses.
The purpose of this memo is to provide information regarding the current situation and guidance moving forward to address the needs of support staff (specifically, special education paraprofessionals and PE instructors) and the increased substitute expense. Please be aware of the following guidelines:
- Requesting a roving substitute for the express purpose of providing coverage for a PE instructor (elementary) or a special education paraprofessional is still allowed at the maximum use of 20 days
- After 20 days, a roving sub will no longer be allowed to provide coverage for that PE instructor or special education paraprofessional
- A single-day use for a roving sub is still allowed if being used to help cover multiple classes throughout the school day
- Roving subs may not be requested to cover office personnel, a general instructional paraprofessional, or to provide additional support for a school activity (e.g., field day, field trips, etc.)
Excellence and Equity: every student, every classroom, every day slcschools.org 2 - Roving subs may not be requested in anticipation of potential teacher absences
- Roving sub requests that do not include a reason for the request noted in the administrator comments may be removed from SmartFind (applicable only to roving sub assignments)
We understand that unique circumstances arise from time to time, and as such, any request for a roving sub that navigates outside these guidelines must first have approval from HR. Such requests can be made directly to me (nathan.elkins@slcschools.org) or Lauren Knotts (lauren.knotts@slcschools.org). As we move forward throughout the school year, we will closely monitor the use of roving subs in SmartFind and will contact you directly if we discover a potential issue. We are hopeful that these guidelines will provide our schools the latitude to navigate challenging staffing situations while maintaining sustainable substitute expenses. We ask that you please review these guidelines with all school staff that may be responsible for requesting a roving substitute assignment. If you have any questions regarding these guidelines, please reach out to me or a member of HR staff copied on these guidelines, thank you.
Nathan Elkins, Director HRS - Certified Lauren Knotts, HR Analyst Krystal Hernandez-Cortes, HR Specialist Kim Hill, HR Specialist
