AssignMe › Guides › Schools & childcare
For schools & childcareSchool staff & substitute scheduling: cover every classroom
In a school or childcare center, the daily assignment is a coverage guarantee: every classroom has a qualified adult, every duty is covered, and — in childcare — every room stays within ratio. Absences happen at 6am; the win is covering them before the first bell.
Who covers what
Teachers own their classrooms; substitute teachers cover absences; paraprofessionals and aides support instruction and supervise duties like recess and lunch; a coordinator or administrator runs the daily coverage plan. In childcare, lead teachers and assistant teachers staff rooms by age group, with floaters as flexible cover. The daily assignment maps people to rooms and duties.
Matching substitutes
When a teacher is out, the right substitute is not just any warm body — match by subject alignment and background clearance, and place them in the classroom with the plan for the day. The faster you match and assign, the less instruction is lost. Keep a vetted sub pool and reach the best-fit person first.
An absence isn’t just a classroom — it’s that teacher’s recess, lunch and bus duties too. Assign the sub to the room, then make sure the duties don’t quietly fall through the cracks.
Duties & coverage
Beyond classrooms, a school day is full of coverage: recess, lunch, arrival and dismissal, and covering a class while a teacher is in an IEP meeting. Assign aides and available staff to these duties explicitly so none is left uncovered, and keep the plan visible so everyone knows where they’re posted each period.
Childcare ratios in real time
For childcare and daycare, coverage is also a legal requirement. Rooms are staffed by age group to strict staff-to-child ratios — commonly around 4:1 for infants, 8:1 for toddlers, 10:1 for preschool. The assignment has to keep every room within ratio all day; the moment a caregiver steps out and a room goes over, a floater should be redirected immediately before it becomes a compliance problem.
One board the school can see
A coverage sheet in the front office is invisible to the aide across the building and the sub who just arrived. A live board puts the day’s coverage on every phone: who’s in which room, which duties are covered, and where a gap or an over-ratio room needs attention.
AssignMe speaks education: areas are classrooms, rooms and duties, roles are teachers, coordinators and aides, and Tunza AI can match a substitute to an absence and flag a room that’s over ratio. The board is free to run; the AI is an optional flat add-on.
Cover every classroom, every day
Match substitutes fast, keep duties covered, and hold childcare ratios in real time.
Start free See how it worksCommon questions
Does it work for both K-12 and childcare?
Yes — classrooms and duties for schools, age-group rooms and ratios for childcare, on the same board.
How do substitutes see their room?
They scan a read-only QR link and see their classroom and duties on their phone — no account or app.
Can it flag an over-ratio room?
Track who’s in each room and the required ratio, and flag a room the moment it goes over so a floater can be redirected.