The challenge: Limited coverage, growing demand
Lompoc Unified School District and Guadalupe Union School District faced an ongoing challenge maintaining consistent paraprofessional support for students.
Paraprofessionals play a critical role in supporting classroom instruction, special education services and student success. However, like many districts, both Lompoc and Guadalupe struggled with:
- Frequent paraprofessional callouts
- Limited access to a reliable substitute pool
- Last-minute coverage gaps impacting classrooms and student services
- Administrative burden tied to sourcing and managing substitutes
- Difficulty scaling support across multiple school sites
Without a consistent pipeline of qualified substitutes, unfilled shifts risked disrupting both educators and students.
The solution: Flexible coverage powered by the Shifts app
Aya Education partnered with both districts to implement a modern, scalable substitute staffing model powered by its Shifts mobile app technology. Using the Shifts app, administrators can post open shifts to a shared local talent pool. Qualified paraprofessionals can accept open shifts within the app, allowing the district to quickly fill vacancies.
The program launched with a focus on quickly stabilizing coverage while introducing a more flexible, on-demand approach to filling paraprofessional shifts.
The solution included:
- Building a shared dedicated pool of compliant paraprofessional substitutes
- Leveraging the Shifts app to enable real-time shift fulfillment
- Streamlining booking and placement processes for administrators
- Providing consistent student support and fulfillment across both districts
This approach allowed schools to post and fill shifts dynamically, reducing delays and improving visibility into coverage needs.
Rapid impact across two districts
Within the first three months of operation, the program has delivered immediate and measurable results:
- 164 total paraprofessional shifts filled
- 84 shifts filled at Lompoc Unified School District
- 80 shifts filled at Guadalupe Union School District
By utilizing Shifts, Aya Education enabled faster response times and improved fill rates, ensuring classrooms remained supported without disruption.
Results that matter
By modernizing their paraprofessional shift fulfillment strategy, the districts experienced
- Accountable paraprofessional staffing delivered across two school districts
- Faster, more efficient fulfillment through shift-based staffing
- Reduced administrative burden for district teams
Most importantly, students continued receiving the 1:1 support they need, and educators could rely on consistent paraprofessional assistance.
A partnership built on flexibility and reliability
Staffing challenges in education require both speed and adaptability. For Lompoc Unified and Guadalupe Union, maintaining consistent paraprofessional support was essential to student success.
Aya Education’s Shifts mobile app provided more than just coverage—it introduced a sustainable, flexible workforce solution tailored to the evolving needs of each district.
From program launch through ongoing fulfillment, the focus remains the same:
Fill shifts quickly. Support classrooms consistently. Keep students on track.
