What a sub may and may not do

1 Every school is different

Substitutes often ask the same questions. Can I leave the room for a minute? Can I give a student something for a headache? Can I take a phone? Can I let a child go home with an aunt? The true answer to nearly all of them is that it depends on the school. Districts and schools write their own policies, and they vary a great deal from place to place.

This guide doesn't tell you what the rules are where you work, because no general guide can. It doesn't give legal or medical advice. What it does is give you the questions worth asking the office on your first morning in a new school, and safe defaults to follow until you have the answers.

The safe defaults all come from the same idea: when you aren't sure, choose the action that keeps every student supervised and brings in the adults whose job it is to decide. You are never wrong to call the office.

2 Questions to ask the office on your first morning

When you sign in at a new school, you'll usually have a minute with someone in the office. Use it. You won't have time for every question each day, but in your first few visits to a school, work through this list. Write the answers in your sub log so you don't need to ask again.

• If I need to leave the room, who covers my class, and how do I call them?
• How do I reach the office from the classroom?
• What is the procedure if a student is sick or hurt?
• Where is the nurse, and how do I send a student there?
• What is the school's phone rule for students, and am I expected to collect phones?
• What should I do if a student's behavior is unsafe or won't stop?
• How do students leave during the day for a pickup, and who releases them?
• What is the school's policy on touching students, such as helping with a coat or a hug?
• Where are the drill procedures and the class list for drills?
• Is there a written policy for substitutes I should read?

Ask in a friendly, practical way. Office staff are usually glad to answer, because a sub who asks these questions is a sub who won't create a problem for them later.

What to sayHi, I'm subbing in room 12 today, and it's my first time here. Could I ask two quick questions? How do I reach you from the room, and how do students go to the nurse?

3 Supervision and leaving the room

The first job of any adult in a classroom is to keep students supervised. Whatever else happens in your day, this is the safe default that never changes: never leave the class unsupervised.

That means not stepping out to make copies, not running to the office, not walking a student down the hall and leaving the others alone, and not stepping into the hall for a long conversation. If you need to leave, call the office or the teacher next door and wait until another adult is in the room.

• Before the bell, find out how to call the office from the room.
• Learn the name and room of the teacher next door, and introduce yourself.
• If a student needs to go somewhere, follow the room's pass system and send them as the plan or the office says.
• Count heads at every door: going out, coming back.
• On a duty such as recess or lunch, stay where you can see the students you are responsible for.

If you have an emergency of your own, like feeling ill, call the office. They would much rather send someone to cover than have a class left alone.

Ask the office how students leave the room for the bathroom or an errand. Some schools want students to go one at a time with a pass; some want a buddy; some want an adult to walk younger children. Follow the school's way.

4 Health, medicine and the nurse

Medicine is the clearest example of something to leave to the school. The safe default is simple: send a student to the nurse with a pass rather than giving medicine. Don't give a student any medicine, even something that seems harmless, and don't let a student take medicine in the room unless the plan or the office tells you how the school handles it.

Students who need medicine during the day usually have a plan the school manages, often through the nurse's office. That plan is not yours to change or carry out on your own. If the teacher's plan mentions a student's health need, follow exactly what it says, and ask the office or nurse if anything is unclear.

• Ask where the nurse is and how to send a student there.
• Ask whether younger students should be walked to the nurse by an adult or a buddy.
• Check the plan for allergy information and follow it exactly.
• Don't hand out food that the teacher didn't leave or that the school hasn't approved.
• If a student seems seriously unwell or hurt, call the office right away.

If something looks serious, don't wait to be sure. Call the office first and keep the rest of the class calm and supervised while help comes. That is the right move every time.

5 Discipline and phones

Discipline

Schools have their own systems for behavior: warnings, a reflection sheet, a call to the office, a referral. As a sub, use the system the teacher and the school already use. Ask the office what to do if a student's behavior is unsafe or won't stop, and follow the answer.

The safe defaults: stay calm, speak quietly, and don't argue in front of the class. Never use a punishment the school hasn't approved, such as keeping a whole class in from recess or taking away lunch, unless the plan or the office tells you to. Write down what happened for the teacher, with the time and what you did. Call the office for anything serious, including anything that makes a student or anyone else unsafe.

Phones

Phone rules differ widely between schools, and sometimes between classrooms. Follow the school's phone rule. If you don't know it, ask the office. Ask whether subs are expected to collect phones, and if so, how and where they are kept. If the school's policy doesn't tell subs to take phones, don't take one from a student's hand; state the rule, note the name for the teacher and move on.

6 Releasing a student

Who a student goes home with is one of the most important things in a school day, and it is not a sub's decision. Schools keep lists of who may pick up each child, and they handle changes through the office. The safe default: release students only the way the school's dismissal list says, and send every question to the office.

• Know before the end of the day how every student goes home.
• If an adult you don't know comes to the room to take a student, send them to the office.
• If a student tells you their plans have changed, check with the office before you let them go a different way.
• If a student is called to the office for an early pickup, send them the way the school asks, usually with a pass or a buddy.
• If anyone is missing at dismissal, tell the office right away.

What to sayI'm sorry, I need the office to check that first. They'll sort it out quickly. Could you stop by the front desk?

Nobody reasonable will be upset with a sub who checks. Families and schools both want the adult in the room to be careful, and asking the office protects the student and you.

7 Physical contact

Schools have different policies about touching students, and the right answer can change with the age of the children. Ask the office whether there is a policy, and follow it. Until you know, use safe, common-sense defaults that keep you and your students comfortable.

• Use words and gestures first: point, show, model.
• With young children, a high five or a side hug the child starts is usually as far as it goes; follow the school's policy if it says otherwise.
• Keep any help with coats, zippers or shoes brief, in view of others, and only when a child needs it.
• Don't block a doorway or physically move a student. If a student is unsafe and won't respond to words, call the office.
• Stay where others can see you, and avoid being alone with one student behind a closed door.

If a student is hurt, follow the school's procedure for injuries, usually calling the office or the nurse, rather than handling it on your own. If a student tells you something that worries you about their safety, listen calmly, don't promise to keep it secret, and tell the office or the principal that same day. Ask the office on your first morning who to tell and how.

These defaults aren't meant to make you cold. Warmth comes through in your voice, your patience and your attention. A kind word and a clear routine do more than any touch could.