Substitute Teacher Staffing in Colorado
FocusedEDU is a substitute teacher staffing agency for Colorado school districts, BOCES, and charter schools, and Colorado is already on our client list: Lotus School for Excellence in Aurora has recommended us in writing. We place day-to-day, long-term, and special education substitutes, substitute paraprofessionals, and related-service providers, each holding a CDE substitute authorization backed by a CBI and FBI fingerprint check.
- 95%
- Day-to-day substitute fill rate at Odyssey Public Charter School
- +40%
- Improvement over the school's previous staffing provider
- 120+
- Roles filled at that one partner school since 2021
- $0
- Fee to hire a long-term sub as your permanent teacher
Roles we help fill
- Day-to-day substitute teachers
- Long-term substitute teachers
- Special education teachers
- Paraprofessionals and 1:1 aides
- School nurses
- Speech-language pathologists
- Occupational and physical therapists
- School psychologists
What Colorado schools need from a substitute partner
Colorado makes substitute licensing simple and statewide: CDE issues one-, three-, and five-year substitute authorizations that work in any district, BOCES, charter school, or facility school, with no cap on days per assignment. That removes the scheduling clocks other states impose, and it moves the whole problem to supply. Along the Front Range — Denver, Jefferson County, Douglas County, Cherry Creek, Aurora, Adams 12, Boulder Valley, St. Vrain, and Colorado Springs — every district and charter is calling the same authorized substitutes on the same morning, and a reliable sub commits to whoever confirmed first and pays on time.
Colorado schools ask us for day-to-day substitutes confirmed before first bell, long-term substitutes for leaves and vacancies, and special education substitutes and substitute paraprofessionals who keep IEP services running. Charter schools, which are a large share of Colorado's public schools, need all of it with a smaller HR office behind them.
How FocusedEDU staffs Colorado substitute programs
We already staff in Colorado. Lotus School for Excellence in Aurora is a client, and its HR director, Kelly Hamm, put the reason in writing: she could move a contract employee to permanent status without a buyout fee. That is our temp-to-perm model, and it applies to every substitute we place — a long-term sub who proves out can become your teacher with no conversion fee.
Every Colorado substitute arrives with a CDE substitute authorization and the CBI and FBI fingerprint check behind it, and our credentialing system tracks the authorization's expiration and any district-level check your HR office requires. Automated credentialing cuts typical time-to-hire roughly in half. Our substitutes are paid weekly, every Friday, by direct deposit or Cash App, and they pick up and swap shifts in a mobile app, so your absence reaches the whole vetted pool the moment it posts. We work with one client per region, so the subs we recruit for your district are not presented to the district next door. For special education, paraprofessional, and related-services staffing in the state, see our Colorado substitute, special education, and K-12 staffing page.
Colorado substitute teacher and clearance requirements
Colorado substitutes hold a CDE substitute authorization: a 1-year authorization requires a high school diploma and experience working with children, a 3-year authorization requires a bachelor's degree, and a 5-year authorization requires a current or expired Colorado teacher license. Every authorization requires a fingerprint-based criminal history check on file with CDE, is valid statewide, and may be renewed indefinitely.
The 1-year, 3-year, and 5-year substitute authorizations
CDE explains that "Colorado issues three types of substitute authorizations -- 1-year, 3-year and 5-year -- based on your educational background and experience, which allow you to work as a substitute teacher in a Colorado public school district, BOCES, charter school or CDE-approved facility school." For the 3-year authorization, "you must hold an earned bachelor's or higher degree in any content area from a regionally accredited college or university and have a current fingerprint-based criminal history report/background check on file with CDE." For the 1-year authorization, "you must hold high school diploma or its equivalent, have a current fingerprint-based criminal history report/background check on file with CDE and attest to having successful experience working with children" (source: CDE, Become a Substitute / Guest Teacher). CDE's checklist lists the fees at $60 for a 1-year authorization and $90 for 3- and 5-year authorizations (source: CDE, Substitute Teacher Authorizations checklist).
The State Board's licensing rules add that a substitute authorization "may be renewed indefinitely upon application" (source: 1 CCR 301-37, Rules for the Administration of the Educator Licensing Act, §3.18), and the statute defines the document: "A substitute authorization authorizes a school district to employ a person to teach on a substitute basis. A substitute authorization shall be valid for such periods of time as specified in, and may be renewed as authorized in, rules adopted by the state board of education" (source: C.R.S. 22-60.5-111). Neither the statute nor the rule caps the number of days a substitute may serve in one assignment.
Fingerprint-based background checks
Every authorization applicant is fingerprinted for CDE, and districts run their own checks for non-licensed hires. For applicants selected for nonlicensed positions, the district "shall forward such fingerprints to the Colorado bureau of investigation for the purpose of conducting a state and national fingerprint-based criminal history record check utilizing the records of the Colorado bureau of investigation and the federal bureau of investigation" (source: C.R.S. 22-32-109.8). CDE notes that district employment checks are "separate from fingerprinting required for educator licensure under the Educator Licensing Act" (source: CDE, Fingerprint and Criminal History Updates). FocusedEDU completes the CDE check with every candidate and coordinates any district-level check your HR office requires.
Long-term coverage and the emergency authorization
Because substitute authorizations carry no day limit, Colorado has no separate long-term substitute permit. Where a district wants to fill a vacancy with a non-licensed teacher rather than a substitute, the State Board's rules provide a district-requested route: "The emergency authorization may be issued for up to one year and may be renewed for up to one additional year" when a school district or BOCES requests it to employ a non-licensed teacher, principal, administrator, or special services provider (source: 1 CCR 301-37, §3.16 Emergency Authorization). We prepare that request when a district needs it.
Where we staff in Colorado
We staff substitute programs for districts, BOCES, and charter schools across Colorado, with Aurora already on our client list and recruiting built around the Front Range.
That includes Denver; Aurora, home to Aurora Public Schools and Cherry Creek; the west and south metro — Jefferson County and Douglas County; the north metro — Adams 12, Brighton and District 27J, and Thornton; Boulder and Longmont, served by Boulder Valley and St. Vrain Valley; Fort Collins and Poudre; Colorado Springs, including Academy 20 and District 49; and Greeley. Because we work with one client per region, the first district or charter network to sign in a metro gets the substitute pool we build there.
Proof: a 95% day-to-day substitute fill rate at Odyssey
A substitute partner should be judged on day-to-day fill rate. Our reference point is an existing client: Odyssey Public Charter School in Wilmington, Delaware, a 1,000+ student K-8 school where our weekly-pay, app-based substitute model sustains a 95% day-to-day fill rate, a 40%+ improvement over the school's previous provider.
Odyssey Public Charter School in Wilmington, Delaware serves more than 1,000 K-8 students drawn from five districts and protects a 12:1 student-teacher ratio. When the agencies already under contract could not fill its open roles, Odyssey brought in FocusedEDU in 2021. Since then we have made 120+ placements across 13+ distinct role types — substitute and certified teachers, SLPs, OTs, PTs, psychologists, reading specialists, one-on-one aides, paraprofessionals, bus drivers, and support staff — and day-to-day substitute coverage runs at a 95% fill rate, a 40%+ improvement over the previous provider.
The mechanics behind that number are the same ones we bring to every substitute program: weekly Friday pay by direct deposit or Cash App, a mobile app where vetted subs pick up and swap shifts the moment an absence posts, and a pool recruited for one client's buildings instead of rented to every school in the county. Read the full Odyssey Public Charter School case study.
In Colorado itself, Lotus School for Excellence in Aurora has partnered with FocusedEDU and recommended us in writing; read the letter on our references page.
For substitutes looking for work in Colorado
Substitutes who work with FocusedEDU in Colorado are paid weekly, every Friday, by direct deposit or Cash App, and choose their own shifts in a mobile app. One application puts you in front of the partner schools we staff, and our team walks you through every clearance and credential step.
Colorado substitutes need a CDE substitute authorization — a high school diploma and experience with children qualifies you for the 1-year authorization, a bachelor's degree for the 3-year, and a Colorado teacher license for the 5-year — with a fingerprint-based CBI and FBI check on file with CDE. We tell you which authorization to apply for and in what order to complete the steps. Browse current openings and apply on our candidates page. Long-term substitutes who prove out in a building can be hired permanently by the school with no conversion fee, which is why a FocusedEDU leave coverage is often the best teaching interview a substitute ever gets.
Current openings in Colorado. As of October 29, 2026, Focused Staffing Group's job board lists K-12 school openings in Aurora and the Brighton–Henderson area. See current openings in Colorado and our other markets; postings leave the list the moment they are filled.
Need substitute teachers in Colorado?
Start with a free 30-minute discovery call or send your openings by email. Either way we map your absence volume, buildings, and requirements first, then build a substitute pool that serves your schools alone — one client per region, temp-to-perm at no cost.
Book a discovery call or send a staffing request. Prefer to compare first? Read our breakdown of the best substitute teacher staffing agencies for 2026, or go back to substitute teacher staffing for K-12 schools.
Documentation we coordinate for an approved start
The applicable checklist depends on the role, state, and your organization’s requirements.
- CDE substitute authorization — 1-year, 3-year, or 5-year — verified in CDE's licensing system and tracked to expiration
- Fingerprint-based CBI and FBI criminal history check on file with CDE, as every authorization requires
- Bachelor's degree on official transcript for 3-year authorizations; current or expired Colorado teacher license for 5-year authorizations
- District-level fingerprint check through CBI completed where the hiring district requires its own (C.R.S. 22-32-109.8)
- District-requested emergency authorization file prepared where a non-licensed teacher will fill a vacancy
- Authorization renewal tracked in our credentialing system
- Reference checks with prior schools, including a morning-of reliability history
- Classroom-management screening before the first assignment
“We are thrilled that we can transition our contract employee to permanent status without a buyout fee. The experience has been outstanding.”
How an engagement works
Free 30-minute discovery call
We map your absence patterns, buildings, bell schedules, and substitute requirements — day-to-day volume, standing long-term leaves, and what your current fill rate actually is. No cost, no obligation.
We source, screen, and credential
We build a substitute pool against your buildings specifically. Every sub is interviewed by us, cleared, reference-checked with prior schools, and screened for classroom management before their first assignment.
You choose from a vetted shortlist
For long-term and building-sub roles, your principals interview fully credentialed candidates and make the call. For daily coverage, only subs who have passed the full screen can see your shifts in the app.
We stay through the placement
We monitor fill rates, rotate out subs your buildings flag, and stay involved for the life of the engagement. Hire any long-term sub permanently at no conversion fee.
Common questions.
What do you need to substitute teach in Colorado?
A CDE substitute authorization. The 1-year authorization requires a high school diploma or equivalent and successful experience working with children; the 3-year requires a bachelor's degree; the 5-year requires a current or expired Colorado teacher license. All three require a fingerprint-based criminal history check on file with CDE and are valid in any Colorado district, BOCES, charter school, or facility school.
Is there a limit on how long a Colorado substitute can stay in one classroom?
CDE's substitute authorization pages and the State Board's licensing rules do not cap days per assignment; the authorization is valid for its one-, three-, or five-year term and may be renewed indefinitely. A district filling a vacancy with a non-licensed teacher can instead request an emergency authorization, valid for up to one year and renewable once.
What background checks do Colorado substitutes need?
A fingerprint-based criminal history check on file with CDE for the authorization itself, and, for non-licensed district hires, a district check forwarded to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation for a state and national fingerprint-based record check under C.R.S. 22-32-109.8. CDE notes the two processes are separate.
Do you already work with Colorado schools?
Yes. Lotus School for Excellence in Aurora is a client, and its HR director, Kelly Hamm, has written a letter of recommendation citing the ability to move a contract employee to permanent status without a buyout fee. The letter is on our references page.
What fill rate can a Colorado district expect?
Fill rates depend on your absence volume and region, so we report yours on a regular cadence rather than quoting one number. Our reference point is an existing client: at Odyssey Public Charter School in Wilmington, Delaware, our model sustains a 95% day-to-day substitute fill rate, a 40%+ improvement over the previous provider.
Will you also staff the district next to ours?
No. We work with one client per region, so the substitute pool we build for your schools serves only your buildings. Every placement is temp-to-perm at no cost, with no conversion fee if you hire a sub permanently.
Need staffing support for hard-to-fill roles?
Contact Focused Staffing Group to discuss your current and upcoming needs — or plan ahead and build a stronger candidate pipeline before openings become emergencies.
Responsive · Compliance-minded · Focused on hard-to-fill roles