Is Your Substitute Teacher Entitled to a Permanent Position?

As the school year winds down, we remind school officials of Revised School Code (RSC) Section 1236 and how it affects a substitute teacher’s rights to continued employment, compensation, and fringe benefits. The Michigan Court of Appeals has interpreted “substitute teacher” to mean, for purposes of Section 1236, a teacher who serves in place of a regular teacher. This interpretation does not apply to a substitute teacher retained through a third-party contractor.

Under Section 1236, a substitute teacher employed by a school for at least 150 days of a 180-day school year must, after all other teachers have been re-employed, be given the first opportunity (either during that school year or the immediately succeeding school year) to accept a contract for any position for which the substitute teacher is certified. The same right of first refusal applies to a substitute teacher employed for at least 180 days in an ISD operating a 220-day program. This right does not apply to a substitute teacher who fulfills the duties of a “teacher who is unable to teach due to a terminal illness.”

Section 1236 defines a “day” as “the working day of the regular, full-time teacher for whom the substitute teacher substitutes.” A quarter-day, half-day, or other daily fraction of the substitute’s service must be counted as the fraction worked, unless the school acknowledges and pays a fractional day as a full day, in which case it counts as a full day.

If a substitute teacher is assigned to one specific teaching position and completes 60 days in that assignment, the substitute is entitled to a salary of not less than the minimum salary on the school’s current schedule for the duration of the assignment, as well as leave time and “other privileges.” Although the statute does not define “other privileges,” an informal Attorney General opinion suggests that the term includes the benefits granted to regularly employed teachers under a collective bargaining agreement.

Although RSC Section 1233 permits some degree of flexibility in employing non‑certificated or non‑permitted substitute teachers, those individuals are not entitled to a permanent teaching position unless they hold a valid teaching certificate.

School officials should closely monitor the number of days worked by each school‑employed substitute teacher, as failing to do so may significantly affect the school’s staffing levels and budgetary considerations.