Maricopa Unified School District says its new in-house substitute-teacher program saved $88,920 in its first quarter. The same report shows a weaker result where classrooms feel it most: the teacher-absence fill rate fell from 79% to 75%.
Both numbers appear in a report scheduled for the MUSD Governing Board’s Wednesday, October 21 meeting. The document compares the first quarter under former vendor Educational Services, Inc., or ESI, with the first quarter after MUSD began employing substitutes directly on July 1.
The district reports total substitute costs of $307,909 under the in-house program, down from $396,829 in the comparison quarter. It attributes the savings largely to removing ESI’s vendor markup, listed as 27.5% of substitute gross pay.
That is a meaningful reduction. It is also only half of the scorecard.
The savings came with more uncovered teacher absences
MUSD’s report says ESI filled 79% of teacher absences during the comparison quarter. The new district-run program filled 75%.
That four-point change matters because an unfilled absence does not make the instructional need disappear. Schools may combine classes, reassign staff or pay existing teachers to cover during preparation periods. The report lists “peer coverage” costs of $85,195 for the MUSD quarter, compared with $39,481 in the ESI comparison.
The document does not define every peer-coverage transaction or say how many class periods were affected. It therefore cannot support a claim that every uncovered absence produced the same classroom disruption. It does show that the district spent more in that category while saving enough elsewhere to reduce total cost.
The comparison also is not perfectly identical: the MUSD quarter covers 47 days, while the ESI quarter covers 44. Cost per day still fell, from $6,999 under ESI to $6,838 under MUSD, according to the report.
Why MUSD changed the system
Under the former model, substitutes worked through ESI. Under the program that began July 1, substitutes are MUSD employees. The district says that change removes the vendor markup and gives MUSD more direct control over recruiting, training, communication and assignments.
MUSD reports hiring 81 substitutes. Its goal is a pool of 90 and an 85% fill rate.
The report identifies Mondays and Fridays as the hardest days to cover. It also says absences entered earlier are more likely to be filled, a useful reminder that the problem is partly about timing as well as the size of the substitute pool.
Families looking for local school contacts can use the OurMaricopa schools and education directory. Applicants interested in district work should rely on MUSD’s current employment postings for qualifications, pay and open assignments rather than assuming the board report itself is a job offer.
The next test is service, not just cost
The quarter gives the district a credible savings figure, but it does not yet prove the in-house model is better on every measure. A program that costs less and fills fewer absences can still improve if the district expands its pool and reaches its 85% target. The next reporting period should show whether that happens.
Three measures will make the next update especially useful:
the teacher-absence fill rate, separated from other substitute assignments;
peer-coverage frequency and cost, with a clear definition;
retention and active-work rates among the 81 people hired.
The board packet says MUSD plans more communication and training as it grows the pool. It does not list a date for the next public scorecard.
What the board is being asked to do
The substitute report appears as an informational presentation on the October 21 agenda. It is not listed as a contract award or a vote to start the program; the change already took effect July 1.
The meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at the District Office Board Room, 44150 W. Maricopa-Casa Grande Highway. The public agenda page provides meeting materials and participation information.
The fairest reading of quarter one is straightforward: MUSD spent substantially less, employed its substitute workforce directly and missed more teacher absences than the comparison vendor quarter. The savings deserve attention. So does the 75% fill rate.
Sources
Maricopa Unified School District, “October 21, 2026 Governing Board Meeting,” accessed October 20, 2026: https://musd20board.community.highbond.com/Portal/MeetingInformation.aspx?Org=Cal&Id=488
Maricopa Unified School District, “Substitute Teacher Program Quarter 1 Report,” included in the October 21, 2026 agenda packet; accessed October 20, 2026: https://musd20board.community.highbond.com/document/16877?lastModified=639277865837870000