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HR presents exit‑survey results: pay, workload and school climate cited; staff to pilot stay interviews and onboarding tweaks
Summary
Amherst County Human Resources reported exit‑survey results showing most respondents would still recommend the division but cited retirement, professional change and concerns about workload and climate as common reasons for leaving.
Human Resources director Jim Gallagher briefed the board on exit‑survey results from employees who left the division during the prior year. Gallagher said 37 of 78 departing employees returned surveys; 78% of respondents indicated they would recommend Amherst County Public Schools as a good place to work, a small decline from the prior year.
Gallagher said the primary reasons responders listed for leaving were personal (retirement, relocation and family needs), followed by professional reasons (career changes or job responsibilities) and concerns about learning/climate, including discipline and workload. Respondents also identified pay, planning time and discipline problems as items that might have encouraged them to stay.
HR outlined several responses: better onboarding and mentoring, increased outreach to classified staff (who had low response rates), and “stay interviews” to capture concerns from current employees before they depart. Gallagher said HR now controls the timing of email deactivation for departing employees to improve survey response rates and is considering paper or face‑to‑face outreach for classified staff to ensure their voices are heard.
Board members asked about whether exit interviews capture people who were asked to leave; Gallagher said the district offers exit interviews to all departing employees. The board encouraged HR to dig into subgroup data (salary bands, teacher vs. classified roles) and to return with a plan on stay interviews and retention actions in August or September.
