On the Friday before Labor Day weekend, Veronica Reyes asked a group of attentive students at Silva Magnet High School in South El Paso to describe the three branches of government.<\/p>\n
It had been at least 14 years since Reyes, who is the assistant superintendent of specialized learning services at the El Paso Independent School District, last worked as a teacher.<\/p>\n
That was until EPISD began its central office substitute program, which requires salaried administrative employees who do not work on a school campus to substitute classes four days a semester \u2014 or eight days a year \u2014 on top of their regular duties. It is the only major district in the region that requires administrators to substitute.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt brings us back to why we started. This is where the majority of your administrators will begin, right in the classroom. So, it\u2019s always nice to keep that connection with students,\u201d Reyes said as students worked on an assignment for their dual-credit government class.<\/p>\n
The program is intended to help the district ensure it has enough substitutes every day for all its absent teachers and give administrators a better understanding of a school\u2019s needs, said Guy Rosales, EPISD\u2019s assistant superintendent of teaching and learning.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt really helps in our role to be connected to what campuses are doing and experiencing day to day, as that helps to inform our jobs at central office. So, we really get that teacher perspective when we\u2019re making decisions and moving forward,\u201d Rosales said.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/LT-SILVA-MAGNET-HIGH-SCHOOL-07.jpg\")
Veronica Reyes, El Paso Independent School District assistant superintendent of specialized learning services, teaches a dual-credit government class at Silva Magnet High School. Reyes returned to the classroom as part of a new district initiative requiring central office administrators to serve as substitute teachers eight days a year. (Luis Torres \/ El Paso Matters)<\/p>\n
It will also help the district save money after it faced a budget crisis that this summer forced EPISD to declare financial exigency<\/a> and lay off dozens of employees<\/a> to cut payroll costs.<\/p>\n \u201cAny time a teacher\u2019s out, the district would incur the expense of paying for a substitute, and that range varies depending on the credentials of the person that\u2019s taking that role. So, by having this programming offsets some of what we would spend on substitutes,\u201d Rosales added.<\/p>\n EPISD substitutes are paid $100-$125 a day. The 255 administrative employees in the program, including members of the communications and human resources departments, will be paid their regular salary.<\/p>\n District officials said they expect to save up to $255,000 a year if all employees substitute the required eight days.<\/p>\n Besides giving campuses a budget that can be used on substitutes, EPISD normally spends an additional $4 million a year covering absent teachers.<\/p>\n Deputy Superintendent David Bates said the district eliminated those $4 million in expenses by converting vacant teaching positions into long-term substitutes, canceling training sessions that required teachers to be pulled out of class, implementing the central office substitution initiative and improving teacher attendance.<\/p>\n Bates said EPISD began using the state\u2019s Teacher Incentive Allotment program, which raises teachers\u2019 pay based on performance and requires an employee to be in a teaching role for at least 50% of the day for at least 180 days or 100% of the day for at least 90 days.<\/p>\n Bates said because of the allotment program, the district has had 2,700 fewer teacher absences than it did this time last year.<\/p>\n \u201cI think we\u2019re going to actually save more than the $4 million, but I won\u2019t know that until April,\u201d Bates said.<\/p>\n El Paso Teachers Association President Norma De La Rosa said the initiative will likely help district leaders make better decisions that directly impact the classroom, but noted it has affected substitutes\u2019 ability to find work.<\/p>\n \u201cI think right now the biggest con that we\u2019re hearing is coming from substitutes themselves \u2026 that they\u2019re not getting called as frequently to do the jobs,\u201d De La Rosa said.<\/p>\n \u201cI know some substitutes. That\u2019s the only job they\u2019ve ever had. So, for some of them, it\u2019s their livelihood,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n Bates said there will likely still be enough work for substitutes as teachers call in sick throughout the year, but may not get the same classes or campuses they are used to.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s still plenty of sub opportunities, I just think it\u2019s hard to try to save money for the district, be fiscally responsible, make sure that teachers stay in front of the kids, and employ everyone,\u201d Bates said.<\/p>\n The central office substitute program is the brainchild of Superintendent Brian Lusk, who declined El Paso Matters\u2019 request for an interview. Lusk substituted a fourth-grade dual-language class on Friday at Logan Elementary School, where he taught students a physics lesson on simple machines.<\/p>\n Substitutes at EPISD are required to have a minimum of 30 hours of college credit and a high school diploma or GED. They do not need to hold a teaching certification.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/LT-BRIAN-LUSK-02.jpg\")
El Paso Independent School District Superintendent Brian Lusk teaches a fourth-grade dual-language class at Logan Elementary School. Lusk developed the district\u2019s new initiative requiring central office administrators to serve as substitute teachers eight days a year. (Luis Torres \/ El Paso Matters)<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/LT-SILVA-MAGNET-HIGH-SCHOOL-09.jpg\")
Veronica Reyes, El Paso Independent School District assistant superintendent of specialized learning services, works with students in a dual-credit government class at Silva Magnet High School. Reyes is among 255 central office administrators participating in a new district initiative to help cover teacher absences. (Luis Torres \/ El Paso Matters)<\/p>\n