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Greece Central HR details hiring, retention efforts; student-teacher placements jump after MOA
Summary
Assistant Superintendent Gina Larson and HR leaders told the board the district’s HR department manages hiring for roughly 3,200 employees, reported a sharp rise in student-teacher placements after a recent MOA, and outlined retention and leadership development work.
Assistant Superintendent Gina Larson and staff presented an overview of recruitment, hiring and retention work in the Greece Central School District, including recent measurable increases in student-teacher placements after a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the Greece Teachers Association.
Larson said the district’s human resources department is a small team that supports the system’s workforce: "we're a fairly small department as compared to, the size of the district. So we're 16 people within the department and, we manage recruitment, hiring, onboarding, and benefits for 3,200 employees and an additional 600 retirees," she said.
The presentation described a year-round staffing timeline driven by two key points: high school course selection in January and final figures provided to finance in March. HR staff said they run three rounds of staffing discussions with secondary principals to align staffing to student course preferences and to avoid very small classes.
Larson and Julie Riley, assistant director of human resources, described an “early intervention recruitment” approach aimed at keeping student teachers in the district. HR credited the MOA with a large increase in placements: the district hosted 95 student teachers this school year, up from 59 the previous year — a 229% increase — and reported 359 total field placements (up from 106 last year, a 239% increase). The presenters said the district will track hires this fall to measure whether MOA-era placements remain employed in district positions.
Retention efforts include mentoring, clear career ladders and monthly labor-management meetings; HR said 38 instructional administrators and 35 noninstructional leaders have opted into mentoring or leadership coaching. The office also highlighted professional-development work for operational leaders, an employee assistance program now run by BREE Health (146 employees used the EAP last year for a total of about 1,800 uses), and annual celebrations for tenure and retirements.
Responding to board questions, HR staff said they post openings daily, use social media and hold targeted recruitment events for hard-to-fill roles (nursing, bus drivers, special-education support). They noted active negotiations this year for several contracts and that next year’s negotiations will include GTA, GASA and Transportation. Larson said HR will develop and publish “wildly important goals” (WIGs) over the summer and will consider a staff-specific survey to gather retention data while guarding against survey fatigue.
Board members thanked HR for the presentation and asked follow-up questions about stay interviews, staffing timelines and the MOA’s measurable effects. HR said it will return with additional data on hires retained from student-teacher placements.
