Ailene Baxter, HR director of the five-women HR department at Puyallup School District, said the daily goal is to make sure to find a qualified substitute for any absent teachers.
“Those sub teams are constantly working those phone lines to make sure we have (replacements),” Baxter said. “Our target is by 10 a.m. every morning we do a check of the system. We take a look at the absences and fill rate.”
Brian Fox, executive director of communications for the school district, compared Baxter and her team to “magicians.” “They make everything look effortless,” Fox said. “The way they work - they are magical,” Baxter added.