Miss Sauls, the Culver School District chief human resources and strategic planning officer, presented the district’s staffing process for opening three new schools and said the district intends to prioritize internal transfers and finish most placement work by winter.

"We are operating under the belief that we have all of the staff that we need to staff our new schools currently in our existing schools," Sauls said, describing a preference for internal transfers and a two-wave process that begins with voluntary transfer interest and concludes with reassignment where necessary. She told the board principals at both sending and receiving schools will have to approve transfers and that the district will follow board policy and state regulations.

Sauls said the district launched a certified-staff interest form on Sept. 24 and planned to open interest collection for classified staff in the following week. The staffing process has three phases: (1) assess student enrollment and staffing needs and apply staffing ratios to project teacher counts by grade band; (2) collect staff interest and allow principals at new and existing schools to meet candidates through "interviews and observations"; and (3) reassess sending and receiving school lists to identify gaps and, if necessary, initiate a reassignment process governed by board-approved criteria.

The new high school will open in two years, Sauls said: the first year will enroll grades 9–11 and the second year will add grade 12. "Opening up our high school ... is going to be a 2 year process," she said, explaining that the staffing shifts in 2026–27 will be followed by a smaller shift in 2027–28.

Sauls outlined reassignment criteria the board approved last month and said those criteria, together with teacher certification, contract terms and staff skills, will govern involuntary reassignments. "These are not going to be arbitrary decisions," she said, and added that approvals must come from both principals. When asked what happens if two principals disagree about a placement, she said the final decision would rest with district leadership: "I do." (She was asked to confirm that authority; Sauls said the district would attempt a democratic process before a final call.)

Sauls gave a tentative timeline: interest forms and principal meetings will run from September through October and possibly into early November; reassignment work could begin in November and continue into December or January with the aim of being "wrapped up by January, hopefully no later than February." The district also has created a transfer webpage with policy, FAQs and a presentation to standardize communications and reassure staff.

Board members asked whether years of service or years in the district would influence reassignment decisions; Sauls said the board’s list of criteria is not strictly ordered and that practical exceptions may apply. She emphasized the process will include consultation with principals to avoid depleting any sending school and to preserve instructional continuity.

The presentation was followed by no recorded public questions during the work session portion of the meeting.