Success story
Learn how Zen helped schools fill roles in minutes
Albany Unified School District (AUSD) in the San Francisco Bay Area serves approximately 3,750 students across preschool through grade 12 in six schools. Like many districts, AUSD was facing a growing number of staff absences and needed a more reliable way to ensure classrooms remained fully supported.
Before partnering with Zen, the District relied on manual processes to communicate absences and secure coverage. Staff across the district’s school sites submitted absence notifications via Google Forms, email, or voicemail. These messages were often received late in the morning, leaving District administrators scrambling to call through a small internal substitute pool before the start of the school day.
School-Level Substitute Requests
Zen worked with AUSD to shift substitute requests closer to the point of need, enabling school sites to act as soon as absences are reported. Administrators at the school level can now create substitute requests directly in the Zen platform, allowing coverage to begin filling immediately rather than waiting for District administrators to manually process requests.
Daily Classroom Coverage
AUSD uses Zen to secure short-term classroom coverage across a range of GenEd and SpEd roles, including paraprofessionals qualified to work with high-needs students. Through Zen’s platform, school sites can quickly connect with vetted educators prepared to support a variety of classroom environments.
Dedicated Account Management
AUSD works closely with a dedicated Zen Account Manager who partners with school and District staff to monitor educator performance, respond quickly to feedback, and ensure strong classroom matches. This combination of automated matching and responsive, hands-on support allows the District to maintain high standards and continuously improve the quality of placements.
94% Fill Rate for Paraprofessional Coverage
Since launching the partnership, Zen consistently fills the vast majority of AUSD’s requests for short-term paraprofessional roles across the District. This reliability ensures students receive the support they need while reducing the administrative burden on school and District staff.
81% of Short-Term Roles Filled in Under 5 Minutes
With substitute requests now created directly in the Zen platform, AUSD can secure classroom coverage quickly and consistently. In fact, 81% of requests for short-term coverage are filled within five minutes, allowing schools to secure coverage earlier in the school day and minimize disruptions for students and teachers.
Expanded Use After Initial Pilot
AUSD initially launched its partnership with Zen as a pilot focused on Special Education support roles. After immediately seeing strong results and consistent educator quality, the District received board approval to expand usage into additional classroom support needs and has since recommended Zen to peer districts through its regional SELPA collaboration.
"Zen has fundamentally transformed how we manage staff absences. By combining an intuitive platform with high-quality educators, they have significantly lightened our team’s administrative load. Beyond the technology, having an account manager who is so responsive to our specific requirements gives us total peace of mind, particularly when staffing our most specialized classrooms. This partnership allows our teachers to stay focused on instruction, confident that a reliable system and a dedicated team are backing them up every morning."
Brian Biggs, Executive Director of Special Education
Impact where it matters most
94%
Paraprofessional Fill Rate
for short-term roles
81%
Roles filled in under 5 minutes
for short-term roles
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2026
Zen Educate