Parents in Louisville Facebook groups this fall have described a school with no fifth grade teachers and no long term substitute in the room. The question that kept coming back was simple: who is writing the lesson plans?
The rules that answer it are scattered across a state regulation, a federal law and a JCPS substitute handbook. Here is what they say, what they don't, and what you can ask for in writing.
Who is allowed to teach a JCPS class when there's no teacher?
Kentucky sets the order. Under 16 KAR 2:030, the state regulation for substitute teaching, a district filling in for the teacher of record has to give priority in this order:
A teacher certified for that grade level.
A teacher certified for classroom teaching at any grade level.
Someone holding the ten year certificate for substitute teaching.
Someone holding the five year certificate for substitute teaching.
Someone holding the one year emergency certificate for substitute teaching.
The bars drop fast. The ten year certificate requires a Kentucky teaching eligibility or a past teaching certificate. The five year certificate requires a bachelor's degree. The one year emergency certificate requires a high school diploma or equivalency and a job offer from a Kentucky district. State law, KRS 161.102, says that emergency certificate is not valid for full time substitute work or for replacing the teacher of record for more than 20 consecutive instructional days. The regulation also lets a superintendent and board declare the need for emergency subs when they expect shortages.
So the adult in the room could be a fully certified teacher, or someone with a diploma and an emergency certificate. The regulation doesn't tell you which one your child got. You have to ask.
What changed for JCPS long term subs in 2026 to 2027?
This year JCPS raised the bar for long term subs and cut what they're paid.
WDRB reported that long term substitutes must now have a bachelor's degree and either a five year substitute certificate or a valid Kentucky teaching certificate. The September 25 WDRB and WAVE blackout story also reports the bachelor's degree requirement. That rules out the one year emergency certificate for long term placements, at least on paper.
Pay went the other way. Substitute teachers make $155 to $195 a day depending on education and experience, according to WDRB and WAVE reporting from September 25, 2026. Last school year, a sub who worked more than 20 consecutive days in one assignment got a 50 percent daily raise. This year it's 25 percent. JCPS spokesperson Barnard Baker told Spectrum News the change would save about $4 million. Baker told the Courier Journal long term subs still get a $1,000 bonus on their 20th day, as before. WDRB and WAVE reported that a separate $1,000 "enhanced support incentive" was discontinued. JCPS hasn't published a page that explains both. The district's 2026 to 2027 salary schedules, effective July 1, 2026, say a long term sub's pay "will increase by 1.25 the normal rate" after 20 consecutive days for the same absent certified teacher, "beginning on day 21." The one time $1,000 comes "After working 21 consecutive days," so the schedule and Baker's account differ by a day.
WDRB reported more than 600 long term substitutes worked in JCPS last school year. At the August 11 board meeting, Superintendent Brian Yearwood was asked whether the new pay and education rules made long term spots harder to fill. "It's early. We really haven't seen the impact yet," he said, according to WDRB.
On September 25, subs refused assignments in a "blackout." WDRB and WAVE reported 314 unfilled substitute assignments that day, compared with 225 on a comparable day last year. JCPS said it would evaluate final numbers once they were available.
How many teaching jobs are open?
Statewide, the Kentucky Department of Education's 2025 Educator Shortage Survey counted 671 certified teacher vacancies as of September 1, 2025, out of 2,421 total vacancies. The Education Professional Standards Board had issued 401 emergency certificates for 2025 to 2026 by that date, according to KDE's presentation of the survey. KDE has not posted a 2026 survey that JCPS Insider could find.
For JCPS openings by category, our look at whether your child's school is fully staffed walks through the job portal. A posted job isn't proof a room has no teacher, and a filled job isn't proof the person is certified for that grade.
Who writes the lesson plans when the teacher's job is vacant?
This is the gap parents keep hitting. JCPS has put an answer in its substitute handbook, but not where most parents would look.
The district's Administrator Substitute Handbook, labeled 2023 to 2024 with a revision date of July 8, 2021, puts the burden on the absent teacher for ordinary absences. It tells principals a sub folder should include adequate lesson plans that are complete, understandable and engaging, including any special IEP needs.
That works when a teacher is out sick. When the job is empty, there's no teacher to leave plans. The same handbook's long term evaluation form asks the principal: "Were lesson plans followed and, if necessary, was substitute able to create a plan or supplement plans?" That question suggests a long term sub may end up building plans.
The district's newer 2025 to 2026 Substitute Teacher Handbook, last revised June 2025, says it directly. "A Temporary Appointee serves as the teacher of record in the long-term absence of a teacher or a teacher vacancy to be filled. Temporary appointees will make lesson plans, implement lesson plans and be responsible for recording and maintaining student grades."
Both handbooks are older than this year's pay change and still list the 1.5 long term rate, so treat them as guides to the process, not current pay. JCPS board Policy 03.4, Substitute Teachers, and procedure 03.4 AP.1 are listed in the district's online policy manual. JCPS Insider could not load their text before publication.
The practical move: ask the principal by name who writes the plans, who checks them against the curriculum, and who grades the work.
Does JCPS have to tell me my child's teacher isn't certified?
In Title I schools, yes. The federal Every Student Succeeds Act, at 20 U.S.C. 6312(e), requires a Title I school to give each parent "timely notice that the student has been assigned, or has been taught for 4 or more consecutive weeks by, a teacher who does not meet applicable State certification or licensure requirements at the grade level and subject area in which the teacher has been assigned."
In an October 2022 Title I bulletin, KDE told districts that rule covers long term substitutes and teachers on emergency certification. Its example: a long term, non certified sub covering a maternity leave. KDE also said a certified elementary teacher placed in a high school class needs the letter, because they aren't certified for that grade. A teacher on a temporary provisional certificate, including Option 6, does not trigger the notice, KDE said.
The four weeks is the trigger for the letter. It isn't a deadline for the school to find a teacher.
What can I ask for about my child's teacher?
The same law requires districts with Title I schools to tell parents, at the start of each year, that they may ask for their child's teachers' qualifications. On request, the district must say, at minimum:
Whether the teacher meets state licensing criteria for the grade and subject.
Whether the teacher is working under emergency or provisional status.
Whether the teacher is teaching in the field of their certification.
Whether your child gets services from paraprofessionals, and their qualifications.
The law says the district must answer "in a timely manner." It doesn't set a number of days. Not every JCPS school receives Title I money, so ask your school office whether yours does.
Who do I contact?
Start with the principal, in writing. Ask whether the class has a teacher of record, what certificate the adult in the room holds, how long the placement has lasted, who writes the lessons, and whether a four week notice went out.
If you don't get an answer:
JCPS Substitute Center: 502 485 3110, JCPS.SubCenter@jefferson.kyschools.us. It handles sub assignments, not parent complaints, but it's the office that tracks long term placements.
JCPS main line: 502 313 4357, jcps.help@jefferson.kyschools.us.
Kentucky Division of Educator Licensure and Quality, to check a certificate: 502 564 5846 (listed on the JCPS Certification page), KDELicensure@education.ky.gov.
Your board member. The board page has a district finder.
Keep the date you first noticed the vacancy. Four consecutive weeks from that date is when a Title I school owes you a letter.