Beecher 200-U Board Buys Red Rover Substitute Software for $7,800

Beecher 200-U Board of Education Meeting | June 10, 2026

Article Summary: The Beecher 200-U board approved the purchase of Red Rover substitute-management software at a cost of $7,800, beginning a multi-year shift away from a single human substitute coordinator toward an app-based system meant to widen the district’s substitute pool.

Red Rover Software Key Points:

• The board approved Red Rover absence-and-substitute software for $7,800, including an onboarding fee and a recurring yearly fee.
• The rollout is phased: the current substitute coordinator will spend the first year onboarding and training subs, then train office staff in year two.
• The app notifies linked substitutes by text and email on a first-come, first-served basis and resends openings every 24 hours until filled.
• Teachers will be able to maintain preferred and “do not call” substitute lists, configurable by building.

BEECHER — The Beecher Community Unit School District 200-U Board of Education on Wednesday, June 10, 2026, voted to purchase Red Rover substitute-management software for $7,800, a move administrators described as the first step in modernizing how the district fills teacher absences.

Superintendent Jack Gaham said the current substitute coordinator, identified in the meeting as Kathy Weiss, has about two years left in the role, and the software is intended to ease that eventual transition. Under the plan, the coordinator would spend the first year onboarding and training substitutes and monitoring fill rates, then in the second year train office staff and administrators to manage the system before the role becomes fully software-driven.

Gaham said the platform works through an app that notifies substitutes the moment an absence is posted, sending both a text and an email and leaving it to the substitute to choose their preferred notification. Open jobs go out on a first-grab basis and are re-sent every 24 hours until filled. Substitutes can specify which buildings and grade levels they are willing to cover when they are onboarded.

In response to board questions, Gaham confirmed teachers would be able to keep preferred-substitute and “do not call” lists, and that those exclusions could be set building by building — though he noted a last-minute, same-morning absence would still go to whoever claims it first. He said the larger goal was to expand the district’s substitute pool, noting several surrounding districts already use the platform.

The cost includes an onboarding fee plus a recurring annual fee, both detailed in the board packet, Gaham said. The motion passed unanimously among the six members present.