Substitute teachers are informally asked to play an important role in school safety: keeping the students in their class safe if something goes wrong. Yet, by nature of their roles, they are usually not involved in school emergency response planning.
Whether a substitute teacher is providing long-term coverage for a teacher out on extended leave or only on campus for a single day, schools need a thoughtful process to provide them with the tools and guidelines to effectively protect students in their care.
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Plan for Two Kinds of Substitute Teachers
“There was a substitute in my daughter’s classroom,” Michele Gay, co-founder of Safe and Sound Schools, shares in a school safety panel discussion, recalling the day her daughter died in the Sandy Hook tragedy. “She did not have training. She did not have a manual. She did not have a key to lock the door.”
When it comes to preparing substitute teachers for emergencies, staff need to consider the experience of each substitute. “We need to think about [if] we’re giving them what they need to keep themselves and everyone around them safe,” says Gay. Some substitutes cover extended leaves and become familiar faces on campus. Others have never been in the building before and might only sub there for a single day for a variety of reasons.
Depending on your state, there may also be specific mandates about what kinds of emergency preparedness training or resources your school has to provide substitutes. For example, Dr. Emily Dunker, Assistant Principal at Eden Upper Hall Elementary shares in a recent episode of the School Safety Today podcast, “Act 55 here in Pennsylvania states that all school districts need to have a protocol for substitutes. Typically, it’s something simple, like a buddy system and [regular check-ins].”
Even for schools without state requirements to meet, both long-term and short-term substitutes need to be accounted for in your emergency management.
Emergency Preparation for Short-Term Substitute Teachers
Short-term substitutes typically cover one to a few days, sometimes with very little notice if a teacher calls in sick or takes unexpected leave. “It’s important that [substitutes] are abreast of policies and procedures,” says Dunker, “But you have a very limited amount of time in the morning to make sure they’re prepared.”
These first-time or short-term substitutes would greatly benefit from receiving a school safety and emergency preparedness kit for from the front office before their first class. This kit can include several key items.
1. Campus Maps and Evacuation Routes
Campus or building layouts can be confusing for any first-time staff, but unlike new permanent hires, substitute teachers often aren’t given a tour of campus. “Schools that have innovative designs with atriums and terraces and different things like that can be even more challenging,” Dunker explains.
Consider the following questions when preparing campus layout materials for a substitute:
- Which classroom or areas will the substitute need to know how to get to?
- Will the substitute need to escort students through the building (e.g., to the cafeteria, art or music room, outdoor recess area, etc.)?
- Will the substitute have access to staff only zones, like planning rooms, workrooms, or a teacher’s lounge?
It can be helpful to clearly mark these rooms and zones on the map for the substitute teacher. In addition to a more tailored map like this, schools should also post evacuation route maps in a clearly visible place in the classroom, like the back of the door, showing primary and secondary routes and assembly points.
2. Door Keys and Lockdown Protocols
A short-term substitute might not have time to figure out how to secure a classroom while a lockdown is underway. Schools should provide a simple, step-by-step breakdown of lockdown procedure in their safety information packet that answer possible concerns, such as
- Does the classroom door lock from the inside?
- Does the substitute teacher need a key?
- Can the door be locked with a thumbturn, button, or automatic electronic lock?
The Sandy Hook Advisory Commission recommends that all classrooms have doors locked from the inside by the classroom teacher or substitute. This same report also cited a lack of standardized district policies on issuing classroom keys to substitutes. Substitutes can either be issued a key upon check-in, or the school can appoint a buddy teacher to hold the classroom key—as long as the classroom can be locked from inside without a key.
Electronic locks that integrate with a centralized access control system, like Raptor Emergency Management Software, can secure doors immediately without manual intervention, helping to solve the logistical problem of issuing door keys to every short-term substitute.
3. Emergency Alerting and Communication Methods
Many schools have well-established emergency communication systems in place, but temporary staff like short-term substitutes may not be familiar with the system or the school’s emergency communication protocols. Provide first-day substitutes with information about
- how to use classroom phones to dial internally and externally
- important contact numbers, like the front office, school nurse, and the school resource officer (SRO)
- how the school communicates emergency alerts (e.g., PA speaker, classroom smart boards or televisions, staff desktops or mobile devices)
- how staff, including temporary staff, can initiate an emergency alert (e.g., fixed or wearable panic buttons)
If your school uses Raptor Badge Alert for wearable panic alerting, you can issue Visitor Badges to substitute teachers at sign-in. Substitutes can press their badge to call for help, sending an immediate alert to a pre-configured response team on campus. Visitor Badge also provides live location updates every 30-60 seconds, giving immediate visibility to where the substitute is on campus when needed.
4. Emergency Plans for Students With Disabilities and Medical Needs
Students with limited abilities or medical needs often require additional support during an emergency. Substitutes in any type of classroom may be responsible for students with a variety of disabilities, including
- physical or sensory disorders
- behavioral or mental health struggles
- developmental and cognitive disabilities
- chronic conditions
- injuries (e.g., temporary wheelchair or mobility aid use)
- limited English proficiency
In addition to any Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) or 504 plans that need to be followed, include a need-to-know emergency card for each student covering evacuation assistance, communication needs, and medical contacts. These cards should be built from existing emergency plans for these students, developed in collaboration with their case managers.
5. Essential Contacts: Front Office and Buddy Teachers
The front office is a substitute teacher’s first stop on campus and often the only guidance available before their day begins. Dr. Emily Dunker suggests a few low-cost steps to help make that initial check-in count:
- Give every substitute teacher a lanyard with the district name on it, “so they look like they’re supposed to be there.”
- Encourage front desk staff to learn the substitute’s name and greet them with it.
- Have front desk check in with first-time subs when they check out to see how the day went.
In addition to a front desk contact, substitutes should also be paired with a buddy teacher. Ideally, this teacher is in an adjacent or nearby classroom and can be available for quick check ins throughout the day or when the substitute needs support.
Having these points of contact helps boost a substitute teacher’s sense of belonging and confidence. Dunker shares that in her doctoral research she found, “the more confident people felt, the higher they scored in their ability to know what to do,” which is critical in an emergency.
Emergency Preparation for Long-Term Substitute Teachers
A substitute covering an extended leave of weeks to months practically becomes a member of school staff and should receive preparation and training like permanent staff. For long-term substitutes, start with a combination of standard new hire onboarding, including required safety and emergency training, and substitute preparation, such as the same campus and student information packet a short-term sub receives.
Then bring them into the regular flow of safety operations on campus. To help reinforce safety messaging and help substitutes feel included and informed, Dunker recommends
- inviting long-term substitutes to relevant faculty meetings
- adding them to building communication
- giving make-up sessions for any training they may have missed at the beginning of the year
Long-term substitutes should also be included in all scheduled safety drills and exercises, with someone in the district tracking which substitutes have completed which safety drills. School safety drill software like Raptor Drill Manager can help streamline this documentation process. Consider including your SRO in the process to help familiarize substitutes with SROs on campus, so they feel comfortable asking for help.
To give long-term substitutes further options to call for help and stay informed during emergencies, provide them with a wearable panic button and training on when and how to use it. For example, Raptor Badge Alert can be used to quickly and discretely initiate a lockdown alert or issue an internal team alert.
And if a long-term substitute teacher will be on campus long enough to be issued a Raptor system log in, the Raptor Alert app provides secure, silent group messaging for status updates, critical information sharing, and ongoing communication during an emergency.
Supporting Every Substitute Teacher for Safer Classrooms
A substitute teacher’s emergency preparation should match the length of their assignment, whether it’s a single day or an entire semester:
- Short-term substitutes need clear emergency procedures—including maps and evacuation routes, plans for specific students, and steps for securing the classroom—and readily available support (e.g., a buddy teacher or front office staff).
- Long-term substitutes need the same as short-term subs, in addition to safety trainings, drills, and emergency communication tools that permanent staff have access to.
“You don’t have to reinvent the wheel every single time [to give substitutes these tools],” says Dunker. Instead, she emphasizes the importance of schools helping substitutes build their confidence and sense of belonging on campus. “You want them to feel empowered to reach out when they have an issue and know where to go for help.”
Recommended Resource
Learn how wearable, silent panic alerts can help all staff quickly and discretely call for help.
