Germantown personnel committee hears HR update on recent resignations, recruiting and new onboarding process

Germantown School District personnel committee members on Aug. 5 heard a human resources update outlining three recent teacher resignations, active recruitment for multiple vacancies and plans to automate onboarding and expand exit-survey practices.

The report, delivered by Martine Castro, the district—s director of human resources, covered resignations that include one family and consumer sciences hire who declined to start, a long-serving high school math teacher who accepted an instructional coaching role elsewhere, and a new hire for high school special education who is leaving education entirely. "We have 3 resignations that are currently, have been submitted," Castro said.

The update matters because the resignations and open positions affect classroom staffing immediately and underscore retention and recruitment challenges facing the district, Castro told the committee.

Castro gave specifics on active recruiting: the district is aggressively targeting candidates for the family and consumer sciences position (including outreach to technical colleges and retired teachers), has five candidates scheduled for math interviews on Thursday and two screener interviews for the special-education opening set for Wednesday. She said the district used Indeed to broaden applicant pools and has begun posting on Handshake to reach recent college graduates. "In a matter of 19 days, we—re able to generate another pool of 8 candidates," Castro said, describing recent results from online job platforms.

Committee members asked about penalties for hires who decline contracts; Castro said the three resignations are subject to liquidated-damage provisions in their agreements because the contracts had already been approved. She also noted several specific hiring outcomes: the district filled a previously hard-to-fill part-time elementary music position after eight candidates applied through Indeed, and reported that two high-school openings that attracted five applicants over the prior year drew 18 applicants on Indeed in 19 days.

Castro provided numbers on noncertified staffing as well: she said the district appears to have 10 additional vacancies for special-education aides but that five of those have offers being sent and active interviews are scheduled for the remainder. On administrative and technical openings, she said one maintenance technician resigned in recent weeks and a professional-technical position opened following a retirement.

On teacher contracts, Castro said some engagements remain under negotiation and that any finalized contracts would be brought to the full board on Aug. 19 for approval. She described the contracts entry on the committee agenda as a placeholder so members would know the item was not forgotten.

The committee also heard Castro—s plan to modernize onboarding and offboarding. She described a three-phase onboarding plan: (1) automate offer acceptance and paperwork using an e-signature platform (she named Foxit), (2) expand orientation components to cover benefits and reduce repetitive one-on-one intake meetings, and (3) monitor new hires— integration with 30-day and 90-day check-in surveys. "Phase 2 is then really about that orientation," Castro said, and for phase 1 she cited a candidate in Canada who could not print documents as an example of why e-signatures would speed hiring.

Castro said Skyward remains the district—s tasking mechanism for downstream onboarding items (technology setup, benefits, key issuance) and that she is evaluating how to avoid overwhelming new hires with multiple separate emails. She said she will personally lead initial 30-day check-ins and may transition some responsibilities to building administrators for the 90-day conversations; a committee member suggested the 90-day check-in include both the HR director and the hiring administrator so both perspectives are captured.

For offboarding, Castro said the district will implement exit surveys as a primary data source and continue to offer in-person exit interviews when requested; she and the director of pupil services plan to use the responses to identify themes driving turnover among groups such as special-education assistants. "They say that's the most effective way to gather that feedback initially with the caveat of always offering the in-person interview," Castro said.

Committee members expressed support for the reporting changes and the onboarding/offboarding initiatives and noted the potential to reduce future hiring costs and improve retention. No formal committee action or votes were required on the HR program changes; the meeting record includes routine approvals earlier in the session (agenda, minutes) and an adjournment motion.

Looking ahead, Castro said most classroom vacancies should be filled by the Aug. 19 board meeting and reiterated that several hiring decisions and negotiated teacher contracts would be presented then for formal board action.