The Liberty Hill ISD board of trustees approved a slate of incentives aimed at drawing new teachers and substitutes Oct. 19.
At a glance
Funding for these programs comes from the district’s general fund, grant funding and vacancy savings, according to documents from LHISD.
"Being able to retain and recruit is really our top priority," Rebecca Owen, the district's executive director of human resources, said Oct. 19.
Mapping it out
A new stipend program aims to boost substitute coverage by paying bonuses for substitutes who work a certain number of days in the district. The maximum cost of introducing this program would be $99,000.
Substitute coverage for the district has fallen by 8.8% since the 2024-25 school year. Owen said the district has hired over 100 substitute teachers for the 2026-27 school year, and of those, 58 are in the process of having their references checked.
During the district’s Sept. 14 board meeting, LHISD officials noted that Friday is the hardest day to find coverage. Between the 2024-25 and 2025-26 school years, the fill rate for Fridays fell by 5.8% despite the need for Friday assignments falling by 34%, according to district documents.
To respond to this challenge, LHISD will offer an additional $20 for each full Friday a substitute teacher covers. This program—which will begin Nov. 10—is expected to cost the district a maximum of $45,120.
More details
LHISD is also looking to fill permanent gaps, including 13 vacancies for special education teachers and 4 unfilled roles for pre-K teachers. While the district already offers a $500 teacher referral program, LHISD is boosting that number to $4,000 for these two roles.
The $4,000 would be evenly split between the referring employee and the newly hired teacher. Assuming all 17 roles are filled, the maximum cost to the district would amount to $76,160.
The district also approved up to $56,000 in additional funding to support special education staff. This funding could be used for release time to fill out paperwork, additional work days for teachers or other strategies to help support and retain special education staff, Owen said.
“We understand that there are additional demands placed on our special education teachers,” Owen said. “So we want to give autonomy to the principals [and] the special education department in conjunction with HR."
