Harry Llama is an intelligent substitute coverage and absence management platform for K-12 schools. It automates the daily process of finding, assigning, and confirming substitute teachers so administrators no longer scramble each morning.

How much time does Harry Llama save?

Schools using Harry Llama reclaim 90+ hours per school year and thousands of dollars in administrator time by eliminating manual substitute scheduling and phone calls.

Who uses Harry Llama?

Harry Llama is built for K-12 school administrators: principals, assistant principals, district leaders, and business administrators responsible for daily substitute coverage.

How do I get a demo of Harry Llama?

Request a personalized demo at harryllama.lucid-north.com. A short walkthrough shows how Harry Llama automates substitute coverage for your school or district.

Stop the 5 AM Scramble.

Intelligent substitute scheduling that gives you your mornings back.

Request a Demo Calculate My Savings

Why I built Harry Llama

"I spent my mornings as an assistant principal on the substitute puzzle. I built Harry so you can be outside welcoming students into the building, not inside juggling coverage."

Brian McManus Founder · Former High School Assistant Principal Meet Brian →

See Harry in Action

"I Like My Process"

Your coverage routine, minus the chaos.

"The GOAT"

Coverage plans in minutes, not mornings.

Go From Chaos to Control in Minutes

Intelligent Document Reading

Upload your existing schedule PDFs, images, or CSVs. Harry reads everything, eliminating manual data entry.

Instant Problem Solving

When an absence occurs, Harry builds a coverage plan that protects preps, rotates duty periods fairly, and respects your contractual coverage limits.

Fair, Balanced Workloads

Go beyond simple coverage. Harry balances assignments across teachers and subs automatically, improving morale and retention.

Real-Time Accuracy

A live dashboard gives you a complete, school-wide view of your coverage status. No more spreadsheets, just control.

New to this category? Read our guide to substitute teacher coverage software, the step-by-step guide on how to automate substitute coverage, the breakdown of the cost of substitute coverage, or a comparison of coverage approaches.

How It Works

A transparent look at our processes, from daily workflows to the core technology.

                                    flowchart TD
                                        A[School Information] --> B[Upload Bell Schedule PDF];
                                        B --> C[Upload Master Schedule CSV];
                                        C --> D[Review Co-Teaching Pairs];
                                        D --> E[Academic Calendar Setup];
                                        E --> F[Dashboard Ready];

                                    flowchart TD
                                        A[Morning: Access Dashboard] --> B{Any Absences Today?};
                                        B -->|Yes| D[Upload Absence Report PDF];
                                        D --> G[Automatic Coverage Plan Generation];
                                        G --> I[Review & Approve Plan];
                                        I --> M[Notify Staff of Assignments];
                                        M --> N[Monitor Coverage Throughout Day];

The Foundation

It all starts with a simple, guided setup. Harry walks you through each step, from basic school info to uploading your master schedule, to ensure a seamless start.

The Daily Routine

What used to take hours now takes minutes. When an absence is reported, Harry's intelligent processing generates a complete coverage plan for your review and approval.

                                    flowchart TD
                                        subgraph "Presentation Layer"
                                            U[Admin Dashboard]
                                        end
                                        subgraph "Application Layer"
                                            S[Scheduling Logic Engine]
                                            P[Document Parser]
                                        end
                                        subgraph "Data Layer"
                                            DB[(Encrypted SQL Database)]
                                        end
                                        U --> S
                                        P --> S
                                        S --> DB
                                        DB --> U

                                    flowchart LR
                                        subgraph "Data Sources"
                                            A[PDFs, CSVs, Forms]
                                        end
                                        subgraph "Processing Pipeline"
                                            E[Document Parsing]
                                        end
                                        subgraph "Core Database"
                                            K[SQL Database]
                                        end
                                        subgraph "Output Systems"
                                            V[Dashboards & Reports]
                                        end
                                        A --> E --> K --> V

The Blueprint

The system is built on a modern, layered architecture with clear separation of concerns: an auditable design your IT team can review, backed by the security controls below.

The Data Pipeline

Data flows through an intelligent and secure pipeline. It starts with ingesting various data sources and ends with clear, actionable insights on the user's dashboard.

Security & Compliance by Design

Harry Llama was architected to meet the security and privacy requirements of the frameworks your district cares about most.

FERPA

No student PII collected. Harry Llama processes teacher and staff scheduling data only.

NJ Data Privacy Law (NJDPL)

Full data export, right to deletion, and breach notification procedures in place.

SOC 2 Trust Services Criteria

Built to meet SOC 2 requirements for access controls, monitoring, and data retention.

LAUSD / NIST CSF 2.0

Aligned with LAUSD security standards and the NIST Cybersecurity Framework 2.0.

How We Protect Your Data

Privacy-by-default anonymization

AES-256 encryption at rest, TLS in transit

Role-based access control with MFA

Documented incident response plan

Algorithmic fairness: no bias in scheduling

SSO/SAML Integration (Coming Soon)

What the Research Shows

The "Friday Rush" is Real.

Our survey of school administrators shows that time spent on sub coverage spikes by over 40% on Fridays. What starts as a scramble becomes a frantic rush, pulling you away from students and staff before the weekend.

Bar chart: average minutes spent arranging sub coverage per day spikes to 57.8 minutes on Fridays versus 40.8 on Tuesdays, a 41.7% jump.

Reclaim 99+ Hours Every School Year.

Each administrator who touches coverage loses over $5,800 in salary-equivalent hours annually to manual scheduling, and most schools have more than one. Harry Llama automates the process, giving that time and focus back to instructional leadership.

See the full survey results →

Chart: administrators spend more than 99 hours per school year on manual substitute coverage, about 12 full workdays.

See Your School's Potential Savings

Our platform doesn't just save time. It saves money. Discover how much your school can reinvest into what truly matters.

Calculate My Savings

Ready to Reclaim Your Day?

Trouble with the form? Email us and we'll set up your demo directly.