FAQs

What is Frontline?
Frontline is a fully automated absence management system. The system can be accessed through the telephone at 1-800-942-3767 or through the Internet at http://www.frontlinek12.com/aesop; it uses a variety of methods to fill employee absences with a substitute. The system is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to enter absences.

What is my login information?
Your ID is your phone number and PIN number is set by you (or initially assigned by the system).  If you forget your PIN, there is a self reset process on the login page.  Please contact the central office (402-786-2321) if you are having issues accessing the Frontline system.

When is the latest I can report an absence to the system on the the day of the absence?
Sub requests can be made at anytime prior to 7:30 a.m. on the day of the absence. Calling in early will be beneficial to secure a sub on the building/teacher preference list.

What do I do if I need to secure a substitute after 7:30 a.m.?
Call your administrator to discuss your absence. Your building principal or secretary will log into Frontline and submit a request and make immediate arrangements for your classroom. 

Can I build a list of preferred substitutes for my classroom?
Yes, this can be done within the Frontline software.

See the following video for more information: Employee Preferred Substitutes (Video)

Do any absences require prior approval?
Yes, personal leave and professional leave requires approval by your building administrator.  This is all done within Frontline. Your building administrator will receive a notification to review your request once submitted. Frontline will not offer a personal leave job to substitutes until it is approved.

Can I cancel an absence once it has been created?
No, employees cannot cancel out of an absence.  If a preplanned absence needs to be canceled, call your administrator to discuss the needed change. Your building principal or secretary will log into Frontline and submit to remove the job.  This must be done prior to 9:00 p.m. the night before the absence. Following this procedure will ensure that substitutes will not miss out on accepting another assignment when their original assignment was canceled.

What if I DO NOT need a substitute for my absence?
You are still required to log into Frontline to report your absence. There is a section that asks if a sub is required, change that option to "No" if a sub is not required to fill in for you.  All absences must be entered through Frontline regardless of whether a substitute is needed.

What are the Preference Lists?
Each building and teacher can have a “preferred list” of substitutes. These substitutes will be offered jobs first when they become available in your building or classroom. These lists are “live” lists and can be edited at anytime. Teacher preference lists can be edited directly by the teacher by logging into their Frontline account.

See the following video for more information: Employee Preferred Substitutes (Video)

What if I want to exclude an individual from being a substitute in my classroom?
First, speak with your building principal regarding your concern. Frontline can exclude individuals from being offered jobs for a specific building or teacher. Caution: The more substitutes on your “Exclude” list, the less chance of obtaining a substitute for your assignment. Please use this option wisely.

See the following video for more information: Employee Preferred Substitutes (Video)

Who manages the Preference and Exclusion Lists?
Each teacher manages their own preference list via their Frontline online account.  Jobs are attempted to be filled by teacher preferred substitutes first.  Then, building preference lists are utilized if the teacher's preference list is unable to fill the job.  Skills and experience is also factored into when a job is offered to a substitute teacher.  If a substitute has more experience or skills in a particular area, they will be offered that job before other substitute teachers.  The Central Office manages the district preferred substitute list, and each building manages their building-wide preference list.

What if I am a certified staff member but do not need a sub when I am absent?
If you do not need a sub for an absence, you must still report your absence through the Frontline system.

I am a traveling staff member with an itinerant schedule. How do I let the substitute know where to go?
If you are a traveling staff member, you can add you building changes when creating absences by selecting the "Set Locations & Times" button on the absence entry page.  For each building change you would make that day, click "Add new variation" so the substitute knows where to go.  If you are an itinerant teacher (moving from site to site) it may be a good idea to add your schedule details either by uploading a file or adding notes via the Frontline website as well so the substitute teacher has more details on where to go.

See the following video for more information: Create an Absence as a Multi-School Employee (Video)

How do I request a half-day substitute at the elementary, middle school, or high school?
The procedure is the same at all buildings when a half-day sub is needed. Follow the same procedures you would for a full day except identify the correct hours. A half-day substitute in the morning reports until 12:00 p.m. and a half day substitute in the afternoon reports at 12:00 p.m. When requesting a half-day sub, DO NOT change the report times. For payroll purposes, all morning half-day subs work until 12:00 p.m. For afternoon half-day subs, the subs report at 12:00 p.m.

Can I add notes or upload attachments to an absence?
Yes, by writing notes or attaching documents to your absence, you can assure that your substitute is prepared to handle your duties during your absence. Frontline you leave notes, as well as attach Word documents and PDF’s to the absence.  Best practice would be to convert any attachment you plan to upload with an absence to a PDF.  This will help make sure it is viewable across many devices and not cause issues if the substitute does not have a particular program on their computer or mobile device.

How do I submit an absence that will be filled internally (being gone for the last period of the day or something similar)?
This type of absence still needs to be entered into Frontline.  At this time, enter it as an absence with the actual times you will be gone.  If it is a job we would normally fill internally, mark that no substitute is required.  Then, notify the secretary in your building who helps manage substitutes and Frontline.  They will fill the job with a staff member internally by assigning that staff member to the job after confirming their availability.

What if I need a long-term sub (maternity leave, longer medical leave, etc.)?  Can I choose that person?
Understandably, if you will be out of your classroom for more than a few days, you will want to make sure a substitute who will be filling in for you is qualified, fits well in your environment and is someone you are comfortable working with.  In these cases where you may be gone for more than a few days (a week or more) it would be appropriate to discuss the absence with your building administrator and make plans to pre-arrange a substitute.  Your building administrator can assign the substitute to the long-term job once you have verified their availability.  Having a substitute that is mutually agreeable to fill in during your long-term absence will help make the experience of you being gone from the classroom better on all accounts.

I am going to be gone on an early dismissal day, how should that absence be entered into the system?
On early dismissal days, you will want to enter a custom substitute report time if you will be gone the entire day.  This is so a substitute knows they will be done by 1:30pm and are not needed for the full day.  To do this, utilize the "Substitute Report Time" area when creating an absence.  To do this:  1) Unlink the substitute time from your leave time as an employee, by clicking the unlink button.  2) Enter in the time under "Substitute Report Time" that a substitute will be needed for your classroom that day.  This will make sure the substitute knows that they are only needed for that portion of the day.  See the screenshot below for a visual of how to change this when entering an absence.

I am going to be gone 1.5 days and would like to enter the absence as one job, how is this accomplished?
This is possible, do note that if it is a last minute absence (such as entering a sick day the morning of) it would be best to only enter the first day to help secure a substitute for the immediate need.  However, the steps to do this for a normal absence that has some decent lead time are outlined below.  1)  Select "Advanced Mode" in the upper right-hand corner of the absence entry area.  2) Select the first date and enter it as a full day absence.  3) Select "Add New Variation" and select your second date/following date and enter it as a half day absence.  That's it, finish filling out the absence details and create the absence!