Substitute Teacher Staffing in Minnesota
FocusedEDU is a substitute teacher staffing agency for Minnesota school districts and charter schools. We recruit, clear, and place day-to-day, long-term, and special education substitutes, substitute paraprofessionals, and related-service providers, each holding a PELSB short-call substitute license or teaching license and fingerprinted for the state and national background study, with every assignment tracked against the 20-consecutive-day short-call limit.
- 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 Minnesota schools need from a substitute partner
Minnesota draws a sharp line at 20 school days. A short-call substitute can cover one teacher or one vacancy for no more than 20 consecutive school days; after that the assignment needs a long-term substitute or a teacher licensed for it, unless the sub has already filed a complete license application for the assignment. A district that loses track of the count either breaks the rule or scrambles to replace a sub the students know.
The daily need is the same as anywhere: coverage confirmed before first bell, long-term substitutes for leaves and vacancies, and special education substitutes and substitute paraprofessionals who keep IEP services running. In the Twin Cities, where Minneapolis, Saint Paul, Anoka-Hennepin, Osseo, and Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan draw on overlapping commuting zones, licensed short-call subs have their pick of assignments every morning.
How FocusedEDU staffs Minnesota substitute programs
Every Minnesota substitute we place holds a PELSB short-call license or a teaching license, backed by the fingerprint background study PELSB runs at first licensure. Our credentialing system counts consecutive school days per assignment, flags day 15 so your office has time to plan a long-term substitute, and records which subs have a license application pending that lets them stay. 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 at once. We work with one client per region, so the pool we recruit around your schools is not presented to the district next door. Every placement is temp-to-perm at no cost. For the rest of the building, see special education staffing, paraprofessional staffing, and related services staffing.
Minnesota substitute teacher and clearance requirements
Minnesota's Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board issues a short-call substitute license to candidates with at least a bachelor's degree, or teacher candidates who have completed student teaching. A short-call substitute may cover the same teacher of record or a vacancy for no more than 20 consecutive school days. First-time license applicants are fingerprinted for a state and national background study, and every school hire gets a Bureau of Criminal Apprehension check.
The short-call substitute license
PELSB's rule requires an applicant to "hold the minimum of a bachelor's degree from a college or university located in the United States, as verified by a college transcript," or to "be enrolled in a state-approved teacher preparation program and have successfully completed student teaching." It sets the term: "A short-call substitute license is valid for up to three years and expires on June 30 of the expiration year," and "An applicant must reapply for a short-call substitute license upon its expiration" (source: Minn. R. 8710.0325, Short-Call Substitute License). We track each sub's June 30 date and start the reapplication before it.
The 20-day limit and long-term substitutes
The substitute teaching rule sets the line: "An individual may serve as a short-call substitute for the same teacher of record or fill a vacancy for no more than 20 consecutive school days." Beyond it, "When a teacher of record is absent from an assignment for more than 20 consecutive school days or a vacancy remains unfilled for more than 20 consecutive school days, the assignment must be filled with a long-term substitute or a teacher licensed for the assignment." A short-call sub "may continue replacing the same teacher of record for more than 20 consecutive school days when the individual has submitted a completed application for a license for the assignment" (source: Minn. R. 8710.0327, Substitute Teaching). Our system counts every assignment and tells your office which subs can stay and which need a long-term replacement well before day 20.
The short-call emergency substitute license
For districts short of licensed subs, "A school district or charter school and applicant may jointly request the Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board approve an application for a short-call emergency substitute teaching license." One qualifying route is a candidate who "holds a minimum of an associate's degree or equivalent and has or will receive substitute training from the school district or charter school," and the assignment limit is tighter: "A district may employ a short-call emergency substitute teacher for no more than ten consecutive school days in a single assignment" (source: Minn. Stat. § 122A.441).
Background studies and BCA checks
PELSB "must initiate criminal history background studies of all first-time applicants for educator and administrator licenses under their jurisdiction," which requires "an executed criminal history consent form, including fingerprints;" and the study "must also include a review of the national criminal records repository" (source: Minn. Stat. § 122A.18, subd. 8). Separately, "A school hiring authority shall request a criminal history background check from the superintendent of the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension on all individuals who are offered employment in a school," and for independent contractors the hiring authority "may, at its discretion," request one (source: Minn. Stat. § 123B.03). FocusedEDU documents both for every substitute, so your district has the record whether or not its policy requires a contractor check.
Where we staff in Minnesota
We staff substitute programs for school districts and charter schools across Minnesota, with recruiting built around the Twin Cities and the state's regional centers.
That includes Minneapolis Public Schools, Saint Paul Public Schools, Anoka-Hennepin, Osseo Area Schools, and Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan in the metro; Rochester Public Schools; Duluth Public Schools; St. Cloud Area Schools; and Mankato Area Public Schools. 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 earns its contract on day-to-day fill rate. Our reference point is Odyssey Public Charter School in Wilmington, Delaware, a 1,000+ student K-8 school that partnered with FocusedEDU in 2021: our weekly-pay, app-based substitute model sustains a 95% day-to-day fill rate there, 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.
For substitutes looking for work in Minnesota
Substitutes who work with FocusedEDU in Minnesota 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.
You will need a PELSB short-call substitute license (a bachelor's degree, or completed student teaching in a state-approved program, qualifies you) and the fingerprint background study that comes with first licensure. We tell you exactly what to submit and track your June 30 renewal date for you. 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.
Need substitute teachers in Minnesota?
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.
- PELSB short-call substitute license (or teaching license) verified, with its June 30 expiration tracked
- Bachelor's degree on official transcript, or completed student teaching in a state-approved program
- State (BCA) and national fingerprint background study completed at first licensure (Minn. Stat. § 122A.18)
- BCA criminal history check documented for your hiring authority (Minn. Stat. § 123B.03)
- Consecutive school days per assignment tracked against the 20-day short-call limit
- Long-term substitute or licensed teacher lined up before day 20, or a completed license application on file
- Reference checks with prior schools, including a morning-of reliability history
- Classroom-management screening before the first assignment
“Focused Staffing Group has consistently matched us with exceptional talent who have made a significant impact on our student learning experience. The quality of the candidates they have sourced for us has been nothing short of exceptional.”
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.
Who can get a short-call substitute license in Minnesota?
A candidate with at least a bachelor's degree from a U.S. college or university, verified by transcript, or a candidate enrolled in a state-approved teacher preparation program who has completed student teaching. The license is valid for up to three years, expires June 30, and must be reapplied for on expiration.
How many days can a short-call substitute stay in one assignment?
No more than 20 consecutive school days for the same teacher of record or vacancy. After that, the assignment must be filled with a long-term substitute or a licensed teacher, unless the short-call sub has submitted a completed license application for the assignment.
What is a short-call emergency substitute license?
A license a district or charter school requests jointly with a candidate under Minn. Stat. § 122A.441. One route requires an associate's degree or equivalent plus substitute training from the district, and an emergency short-call substitute may serve no more than ten consecutive school days in a single assignment.
What background checks do Minnesota substitutes go through?
PELSB runs a criminal history background study, including fingerprints and a national records review, on every first-time license applicant. School hiring authorities must also request a Bureau of Criminal Apprehension check on everyone offered employment in a school.
What fill rate can a Minnesota 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 recruit in your area serves only your schools. Every placement is also 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