Brandenburg Middle School in Garland ISD has a classical music program where students embrace the arts. Brandenburg, like almost every other school, is fighting to keep COVID-19 off its campus -- 15 teachers were quarantined Monday.

So the teachers are teaching from home, and the students are in the class with substitutes, but that too hasn't gone smoothly.

"People who typically sub in our district are usually over a certain age, they are retired, so we lost a lot of that sub population," Garland ISD Superintendent Ricardo Lopez said. "Now we're at the critical point and said, 'Hey it's all hands on deck.' We're one big family let's come in from central office and fill those vacancies."

Lopez himself got back in the classroom with other administrators to serve as subs.

"One of the students said, 'Oh, the assistant superintendent,' and I said, 'Actually that's me,' and she said 'Oh!'" said Kim Caddell, assistant superintendent of curriculum.

Not just are they solving the substitute problem but getting insight into the policies and procedures they put in place.

"What is it like to be a teacher right now and what can we do to make it easier, so this is providing me a great perspective of what it's like right now," Caddell said.