ACPS Raises Substitute Bonuses, Adds Monday-Friday Incentive
Eligible substitute teachers and instructional assistants can earn up to $400 in additional pay during a two-month period.
Alexandria City High School, part of Alexandria City Public Schools. (Photo: Wikipedia)
ALEXANDRIA, VA — Alexandria City Public Schools has increased its incentive pay for substitute teachers and instructional assistants while adding a new bonus aimed at Mondays and Fridays.
The 2026–27 Substitute Incentive Pay Program resumed October 1 and will continue through May 30, 2027. ACPS said the program “will provide compensation to current ACPS substitute teachers and substitute instructional assistant employees based on frequency of assignments accepted and completed.”
Under the program, eligible substitutes can receive a $250 stipend before taxes for completing 20 student learning days in a consecutive two-month period. The work must be completed through daily or other non-long-term assignments; days worked as part of a long-term assignment do not count toward that incentive.
ACPS is also offering a separate $150 stipend to substitutes who work a total of six Mondays or Fridays within a consecutive two-month period. Any combination qualifies—for example, six Fridays or three Mondays and three Fridays.
Substitutes may earn both stipends, bringing the potential additional compensation to $400 during an eligible two-month period.
A Larger Incentive This School Year
The attendance-based payment represents an increase from the program ACPS introduced during the 2024–25 school year. At that time, substitutes received $200 for completing 20 eligible days within two months. The new program raises that payment by 25 percent and adds the Monday-Friday incentive.
According to the ACPS substitute employment page, short-term substitute teachers currently earn $124.50 per day, while long-term substitute teachers earn $172.09. Substitute instructional assistants earn $105 per day.
The bonuses provide additional compensation for employees who accept assignments frequently and may help schools maintain more consistent classroom coverage when regular teachers or instructional assistants are absent.
ACPS did not include the program’s projected cost, the number of substitutes expected to qualify or last year’s unfilled-assignment figures in its announcement.
Payments will be issued after each eligible two-month period, beginning with the second December 2026 pay date for work completed in October and November.
