Questions to Ask as a Long-Term Sub
These questions are for substitute teachers who have been offered a long-term assignment, such as covering a maternity or medical leave, and want to know what to settle before saying yes and before day one. They follow the order the conversations tend to happen in: the assignment and the pay with the principal or HR, then plans, grading and students with the teacher you are covering, then parents, logins and the handover back.
Want questions from the whole vault instead? Try the random question generator.
The questions
Each question, and why to ask it
The assignment
What are the start and end dates of the assignment, and how firm is the end date?
Why ask it
A leave has a planned return date, and that date can move. Get both dates in writing and find out what the end depends on: a doctor's clearance, a due date, the close of a grading period. A principal who says 'we will see how it goes' is telling you to keep your own calendar loose on both sides.
What happens if the leave runs longer than planned?
Why ask it
Leaves do get extended, so raise it before you accept and not in the last week. A good answer says whether you would be asked first, how much notice you would get and whether the pay changes at that point. If you have something booked after the end date, this is the moment to name it.
Do you want me to follow the plans I am given, or plan and teach the course as my own?
Why ask it
'Keep them on track' and 'you are their teacher until the leave ends' are two different workloads, and schools differ on which one they mean by long-term. If it is the second, the questions about pay, planning time and grading carry more weight. If the principal has not thought about it, you may hear the decision being made on the spot, which is still useful.
Which grades and subjects would I be covering, and how many different preps is that?
Why ask it
One fourth-grade room and five sections across three high school courses share a job title and little else. Count the separate preps, since each one is a set of plans to read or write every evening. If a subject is outside what you can teach well, say so now and ask what help comes with it.
Can I meet the teacher, or spend a day in the room, before the leave starts?
Why ask it
On an overlap day you watch the routines run and the students see the two of you side by side, which no binder can do for you. Find out whether that day is paid. If the teacher is already out, ask who knows the class best and has half an hour to walk you through it.
Was this leave planned or sudden, and has the class already had other subs?
Why ask it
You are not asking for the teacher's private reason, and the school may not be free to give it. Planned leaves tend to come with plans and a handover. A class that has been through several subs already needs its routines rebuilt before much content gets taught, and it is fair to ask what support comes with that.
Could the teacher come back earlier than planned, and how much notice would I get?
Why ask it
This is the income question in the other direction. Some assignments simply end the day the teacher returns and some carry a minimum notice, so ask which this is. A week's warning is enough to line up other work, and a call on Sunday night is not.
What hours am I expected to be in the building each day?
Why ask it
A day sub's hours often follow the student bell, while a long-term cover may be asked to keep the teacher's hours, with meetings before or after school. Ask which applies here and whether the rate was set with that in mind. If it is teacher hours, the time before the first bell is when most of your copying and planning will get done, so check how early you can be let in.
Will I have the teacher's planning period, or can I be pulled to cover other classes during it?
Why ask it
Day-to-day subs often get sent wherever a gap opens. Someone planning and grading a full load needs that period, and a principal who sees you as the class's teacher will protect it. If you hear 'only when we are short', ask how often that has been this year.
Which duties come with this classroom: arrival, lunch, recess, dismissal, bus?
Why ask it
Duty rosters tend to be written by name, so the absent teacher's slots can quietly become yours. Ask for the schedule and the exact spot, and who covers if a duty collides with a meeting about one of your students.
What would you want to be true about this class on the day the teacher walks back in?
Why ask it
The principal's answer is your job description in a sentence: on pace, calm, grades current, or simply nobody calling the office. Write it down and hold yourself to it at the halfway point.
Is there any chance this position becomes permanent, and how would I apply if it did?
Why ask it
Ask once and lightly. Nobody can promise you a job that belongs to someone on leave, and a good principal will say so plainly. What you can learn is whether openings are expected and whether long-term work in the building counts for anything when they are filled.
Pay and status
What is the pay rate for this assignment, and from which day does it apply?
Why ask it
Employers handle this differently: a higher long-term rate may start on day one, start after a set number of consecutive days, or be paid back to the first day once you pass that mark. Ask which it is here and what the figure is. If the principal does not know, leave with the name of the person in HR or payroll who does.
If I miss a day, or the school closes, does my consecutive-day count start over?
Why ask it
Where a higher rate hangs on consecutive days, one sick day or one snow day can cost more than a day's pay. Find out what counts as a break and whether a closure is treated like your own absence. Settle it before you book the dentist.
Am I paid for holidays, staff training days and closures that fall inside the assignment?
Why ask it
A long assignment is likely to cross a break or a training day, and whether a substitute is paid for each kind depends on the employer. Go through your dates with a calendar and ask about every one. The answers change what the assignment is worth as a whole.
Does a long-term assignment come with sick days or any benefits?
Why ask it
The answer may well be no, and that is better heard now than assumed. If something does start after a certain length of service, find out the date and what you have to sign. Placed through an agency? Then the agency answers this, not the school.
Will I be paid for planning, grading and conferences that happen outside the school day?
Why ask it
A day rate normally describes the school day, while report card comments and an evening of conferences sit outside it. Ask what is paid, what is expected regardless, and how extra hours get recorded. 'We will sort it out later' is the reply to be wary of.
Do I need a particular certificate or permit for an assignment this long, and is there a limit on the days I can serve?
Why ask it
How long a substitute may stay in one classroom, and on what license, is set where you work and differs widely. Have the school confirm that you are cleared for the full length. If a limit exists, ask what happens to you and to the class on the day it is reached.
Am I working for the district or through a staffing agency on this, and who do I go to about pay?
Why ask it
It decides who answers every other question in this group. With an agency involved, ask the agency for its long-term rate yourself, because the school may not know it. Have one name and one email address for pay problems before the first paycheck is due.
Is there a letter or agreement I sign that states the dates and the rate?
Why ask it
Misunderstandings about pay tend to begin with an offer made in a hallway. A short email from the principal or HR confirming the rate, the start date and the expected end is enough. If nobody will write it down, treat every figure you were told as an estimate.
Plans and grading
What will you leave me: full lesson plans, a pacing guide, or the unit names and the textbook?
Why ask it
All three are normal answers, and each means a different amount of evening work. Plans for the first couple of weeks with a pacing guide after that is a generous handover. If it is only a list of topics, ask whether a grade-level or department colleague shares plans and would include you.
Where should the class be by the time you return?
Why ask it
Hold out for a unit, a chapter or a standard, not 'as far as you get'. With a fixed point you can work backward and notice by the third week that you are behind. It also helps to hear what the teacher would sooner have skipped than rushed.
What does the weekly schedule look like, including specials, lunch and the days that run differently?
Why ask it
The printed bell schedule is the easy part. The teacher knows the rest: the early-release day, the assembly that eats third period, the afternoon half the class leaves for band. Mark those on your pacing calendar first, because they are the lessons that will not happen.
Where are the materials: the curriculum, the shared drive, the copies and the answer keys?
Why ask it
Have the teacher open them in front of you, on screen or at the shelf. 'It is all in the drive' can mean one tidy folder per week or six years of files with similar names. Ask which folder they actually teach from.
How much freedom do I have to change a lesson that is not working?
Why ask it
Some teachers want their plans followed to the letter and others hope you will bring your own. Put it to the teacher directly and ask which pieces cannot move, such as a common assessment the whole grade takes. Knowing the line spares you a nervous message every time a lesson falls flat.
Who grades the work, and do the grades I give go into the official gradebook?
Why ask it
In one school the long-term sub grades everything and enters it, and in another someone else enters or approves the grades. Get the name, and the day of the week by which grades should be current. If nobody is sure, press for a decision before you start, since ungraded work piles up quickly and families notice.
How do you grade: what counts, how much, and what happens with late or missing work?
Why ask it
Students and parents will hold you to the teacher's policy, so get the weights, the retake rule and the late rule on paper. Changing them halfway through a term invites disputes you would settle alone. Where the policy is loose, agree on a simple version together before the teacher goes.
Will I write progress reports or report cards, and who signs off on them?
Why ask it
Check whether a grading period closes inside your dates. If one does, you need to know who writes the comments, who reads them before they go home and when they are due, and last term's reports make a good model. Ask as well whose name appears on the report.
Are there tests, benchmarks or state assessments during my dates, and what is my part in them?
Why ask it
Who may give which test, and what training comes first, is set by rules that depend on where you are. Take this one to the school's testing coordinator as well as the teacher. A big assessment in the middle of your weeks makes the pacing question more serious.
Students
Which students have IEPs or 504 plans, and how will I get to read what I am responsible for?
Why ask it
The students still need their accommodations while the teacher is away. Who may share these documents with a substitute, and how, is governed by rules where you work, so ask the principal or the special education lead how it is done there. If you are told the teacher just knows what each student needs, ask who can put that on paper for you.
Who is the case manager or special education contact for those students, and are any meetings due while I am here?
Why ask it
Leave with a name and a room number for each student's contact. If a meeting falls inside your dates, find out whether you attend, what you would bring and who has your class meanwhile. When nobody is sure whether a sub takes part, ask them to settle it well before the date.
Are any students learning English or receiving other services, and when are they pulled out or supported in the room?
Why ask it
The pull-out schedule explains the empty seats at ten o'clock and tells you when not to start something new. Get it on paper. Then ask each specialist what they need from you week to week, since they are often the steadiest help a long-term sub has.
Which students have medical needs or allergies I must know about, and what is the plan for each?
Why ask it
Put this to the school nurse or the office as well as the teacher, and find out where each plan and any medication is kept. It belongs before your first morning, not during it. Field trips and class parties are the days it gets forgotten, so ask about those too.
What are the emergency procedures for this room, and when is the next drill?
Why ask it
Fire, lockdown, severe weather, a medical emergency: find where the instructions are posted and which way this class goes. Walk the route once while the building is empty. A day sub can follow the room next door, but for these weeks the class will be looking at you.
Who in the class will find the change of teacher hardest, and what helps them?
Why ask it
Some children take a teacher's absence personally, and it can come out as silence or as testing you. Ask for what helps, such as a job at the start of class or a quiet word before a transition. Two or three names with one strategy each is plenty to begin with.
What is the behavior system in this room, and what am I expected to handle before I call the office?
Why ask it
Keep the teacher's system for the first weeks even if you would run things differently. Take the second half to the principal: what earns a referral, who comes when you call, and how fast. 'Just send them down' and 'handle it in the room' call for different plans, so learn which building you are in.
Which routines and procedures should I keep exactly as they are?
Why ask it
Students settle sooner when the morning routine, the bathroom pass and the way papers are handed in do not change with the adult. Ask for the three or four the class would notice most. Whatever is not on that list is yours to run your own way.
What have the students been told about the leave, and what should I say when they ask?
Why ask it
They will ask on the first day, and younger ones may ask every day after. Agree on one sentence with the teacher, including whether a return date is mentioned. That protects the teacher's privacy and saves you from guessing in front of the class.
Are there aides, paraprofessionals or co-teachers in the room, and at what times?
Why ask it
These are the adults who stay when the teacher goes, and they know things about the class that nobody thought to write down. Get their schedule and introduce yourself before the first day if you can. The teacher can tell you how the work is usually split, so you do not take over someone's part by accident.
Is there a seating chart with photos, and class lists I can write on?
Why ask it
Knowing every name by the end of the first week does a lot of quiet work on behavior, and a chart with faces is the quickest route. If there is none, the office can sometimes print a roster with pictures. Ask the teacher whether the current seating is deliberate before you move anyone.
Parents and access
How will families be told I am taking over, and can I send an introduction?
Why ask it
A note from the principal or the teacher, sent before you start, presents you as the appointed teacher and not a stranger. Ask to read it, and ask whether a short letter of your own may go with it. If nothing is planned, offer to draft one for approval.
Should parents contact me directly, and from which address or app would I reply?
Why ask it
The clean arrangement is a school email or the class messaging app in your own name. Writing to families from a personal account is worth avoiding, and the school may not allow it. Then settle two details: how quickly replies are expected, and whether the teacher wants to be copied or left out.
Which kinds of parent message should I pass to an administrator instead of answering myself?
Why ask it
Grade disputes, custody matters, requests to change a support plan and anything angry are common ones to hand up. Get the name of the person who takes them. How readily the principal answers gives you a fair idea of the backing to expect when the first hard email arrives.
Are parent-teacher conferences scheduled while I am there, and would I run them?
Why ask it
If they are, ask the teacher for a few lines on each student and ask whether an administrator or colleague can sit in on the hard ones. Meeting the parents of children you have known for three weeks is manageable with notes and uncomfortable without them.
Which logins will I have in my own name: email, the gradebook, the learning platform, attendance?
Why ask it
Ask for your own accounts, set up before day one, and try each of them the afternoon before. Borrowing the teacher's password is a tempting shortcut and a poor one: everything you do appears to be theirs, and it may break the school's rules. Attendance is the login that cannot wait, so ask what the paper backup is.
What keys, badge and codes do I need, and do I keep them for the whole assignment?
Why ask it
Classroom key, building badge, copier code, the closet where the supplies live. Day-to-day subs often sign these in and out each morning, so ask to be treated as staff for the length of the cover. Being let into your own room every day is a small thing that students read clearly.
Support and handover
May I contact you during the leave, and what is worth contacting you about?
Why ask it
This one is for the teacher, and the answer deserves to be taken at face value. Some want a weekly update and some need to be fully away, and the school may have its own rule about reaching staff on leave. If it is no contact, find out who in the building makes the calls the teacher would have made.
Who is my go-to person in the building for curriculum questions?
Why ask it
You want a name: a grade-level partner, a department head, an instructional coach. Ask the principal to introduce you so your first message is not a cold one. If the teacher on leave is the only person who teaches this course, ask who taught it before.
Am I expected at staff meetings and team planning, and will I be on the staff email list?
Why ask it
The planning meeting is where you learn about the common test next Friday. Sort the meetings into expected, optional and paid. Being left off the email list costs you more than meetings, so ask to be added on the first day.
If I am sick, who do I tell, and who finds a sub for the class?
Why ask it
A long-term sub needs a sub now and then, and the usual absence system may have no way for you to enter one. Get the person or the phone number, and the hour by which they need to hear. Keep one day of stand-alone plans in the desk from the first week, so a fever does not mean writing lessons at five in the morning.
Will I be observed or given feedback during the assignment?
Why ask it
An observation works in your favor: it is feedback now and something a reference can speak from later. Ask what form it takes and whether you would see anything written. If nobody plans to come in, invite the principal for twenty minutes once the class has settled.
What should I keep a record of as I go?
Why ask it
Parent contacts, behavior incidents, accommodations provided and changes to the plan are the usual list, and the school may have its own format. A dated log takes five minutes at the end of the day. It is also what you would point to if a decision were questioned after you had gone.
How do you want the class handed back: what notes, grades and records should be waiting for you?
Why ask it
Agree on the handover at the start, while it is easy. A page per class on what was covered, what was skipped and which students need a conversation is a common request. Ask whether an overlap day on the way out is possible, and whether it would be paid.
When this ends, would you be a reference for me, and do I go back on the sub list automatically?
Why ask it
Save it for the final weeks, not the interview. Someone who watched you carry a class through a whole leave can say things a record of single days cannot. The second half is practical: some systems put you back on the daily list on their own and some wait for you to say you are free.
How to get the answers before a long-term sub job starts
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Who to ask, and when
The principal or HR, before you accept
The assignment and Pay and status are for whoever is offering you the job. Ask them at the interview or on the phone call, before you say yes, because the dates and the rate are far harder to reopen once you have started. A principal may not know the pay rules in detail. That is normal, so ask who does and write to that person the same day.
The teacher you are covering, before the leave begins
Plans and grading and most of Students belong to the teacher. An hour together in the classroom is the ideal, a phone call is second, and a shared document they fill in is third. If the teacher is already out, do not go looking for their personal number. Ask the principal whether contact is welcome, and take the same questions to a grade-level partner or department head in the meantime.
The office, the nurse and the tech person, in the week before
Logins, keys, the duty roster, emergency procedures and medical plans are held by people other than the teacher. A short visit to the building a few days before you start, with the Parents and access questions and the medical and emergency ones from Students in hand, saves the first morning. Tell the office you are covering for several weeks. They may otherwise set you up as they would a sub who is there for a day.
If the call comes the night before
Sudden leaves happen, and then there is no time for the whole list. Ask five things: the dates and the rate, where the plans for this week are, how attendance is taken, which students have support plans or medical needs, and one named person to go to. Work through the rest during the first week.
Getting a handover you can teach from
Ask to be shown, not told
A teacher who is about to go on leave is busy and will answer from memory. 'The plans are in the drive' and 'the gradebook is easy' turn out differently when you open them alone on a Sunday. Sit beside them while they open the folder, enter one grade and send one message to parents, and take notes on the clicks.
Put the answers in one document and send it back
After the conversation, type up what you heard: where the class should be on the return date, the grading rules, the routines to keep, the students to know. Send it to the teacher and ask them to correct it. You end up with a handover sheet they have approved, and they leave knowing what you understood.
Confirm the money in an email
Once the rate, the day it starts and the dates have been said aloud, write a two-line message repeating them and ask for a reply. It is not a sign of distrust. Payroll, HR and the principal are often three different people, and a written line is what the three of them can check against.
Ask what worries them about leaving
It is not in the list because it is less a question than an invitation. Most teachers going on leave have one class, one student or one unit on their mind. Hearing what it is tells you where to put your attention first, and it lets them stop carrying it.
Once you have started
Keep the room familiar at first
For the first couple of weeks, run the teacher's routines, seating and rules as you were given them. Students are already adjusting to a new adult. Changes you want to make go down better once the class has decided you are staying, and the ones that touch grading are worth clearing with the teacher or the principal first.
Go back with a second round in week two
Some questions cannot be asked until you have taught the class: what to do about the group that finishes early, whether a particular family always writes this often, which copier actually works. Collect them through the first week and take them to your go-to colleague in one sitting.
Raise the end date before it arrives
If the planned return is three weeks off and nobody has mentioned it, ask the principal whether the date still stands. You need to know for your own bookings, and the school needs to know whether you are free to stay. It is a fair question and easier asked early than on the last Friday.
Write the handback as you go
A running page per class, with what was taught, what was dropped and anything a parent was told, takes a few minutes a day. Left until the last week it becomes guesswork. It is also the document a returning teacher is most grateful for, which matters if you hope to be asked back.
Mistakes to avoid
Assuming the daily-sub rules still apply
Pay, access, duties, meetings and grading can all work differently once an assignment is long, and they can also stay exactly the same when you expected a change. Neither is safe to assume. Ask about each one, even if you have subbed in the building for years.
Taking a pay figure from a colleague or a forum
Rates, the number of days before a higher rate applies and the rules on licenses are set by each employer and each place. What another sub was paid in another district, or in this one two years ago, is a reason to ask and not an answer. The only figure that counts is the one your employer confirms.
Working from the teacher's account
It is offered kindly and it solves the first morning. It also puts your grades and messages under someone else's name while they are on leave, and it may be against the school's rules. Ask for your own access and use the paper backup until it arrives.
Rewriting the grading or the rules in the first week
You may be right that the late policy is too soft or the seating does not work. A change made in week one, by someone the class has just met, is the one families complain about. Keep what you were handed, note what you would change, and raise it with the teacher or the principal.
Leaving without the handover agreed
The end of a leave can come suddenly, with a call on Thursday that the teacher is back on Monday. If you settled at the start what notes and grades they want waiting, you can finish in a day. If you did not, the last impression you leave is an unfinished gradebook.