Case Study: Loudoun County Public Schools achieves a 91% substitute fill rate with PowerSchool Unified Talent (Absence Management & Insights)

K-12 Success Loudoun County’s Secrets to a 91% Substitute Fill Rate with Quality Teachers

Loudoun County Public Schools, a rapidly growing Virginia district, faces mounting demand for qualified substitutes as enrollment rises (about 2.5% annually for general ed, 10% for special education, 8% for EL). With up to 1,200 teacher absences per day across 96 schools and a single HR specialist managing coverage, hiring, and reporting, the district needed a scalable way to keep classrooms staffed—especially for classes requiring specialized certifications.

Using PowerSchool Unified Talent Absence Management and Unified Insights Talent, HR specialist Bonnie Robertson gets a daily bird’s-eye view, color-coded priorities, early alerts, and actionable analytics to target hiring and resource requests. The tools helped Loudoun maintain a 91% substitute fill rate (covering up to 1,200 absences/day), match substitute qualifications to assignments, manage 150,000+ job fills in 2018–19, and secure funding and focused recruitment to address emerging gaps like middle-school coverage.

Loudoun County

Bonnie Robertson

HR and Talent Development Specialist