How to distribute duty fairly (and prove that you did)
Duty complaints are rarely about the duty. They are about the belief that someone else is getting less of it. Fairness you can show on a page ends the argument.
Pick one model and name it
- Equal slots — simplest, works when every post is roughly the same length and difficulty.
- Equal minutes — fairer when posts range from 15 to 45 minutes.
- Weighted minutes — outdoor, early-morning, or high-supervision posts count more.
- Capacity-adjusted — part-time staff, coaches in season, and new teachers carry a defined fraction.
Track three metrics, publish two
Track total assigned load, coverage requests made, and coverage claims taken. Publish the first two by name to all staff; keep claims visible too if your culture supports it, because it tends to reward the people quietly holding the building together.
Handle exemptions explicitly
Some exemptions are legitimate: medical accommodations, IEP-meeting obligations, bus-route responsibilities. Write them down as a reduced target rather than as an absence from the chart. An exempt teacher who simply disappears from the roster looks, to everyone else, like favoritism.
Rebalance quarterly
Load drifts. Coaches enter and leave seasons, staff are hired mid-year, and a few reliable people quietly absorb every open post. A quarterly rebalance, announced in advance, keeps drift from becoming resentment.
CoverMate does this part for you.
Recurring duty schedules, one-tap coverage, fairness reports, and term-aware calendars — $1,188 per school per year, unlimited staff.