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Board hears district staffing plan: new positions for Poplar Hill, many vacancies and shifts between funding sources
Summary
The board reviewed growth and vacancy counts tied to the FY26 budget: total proposed growth of 37.75 FTE (largely for a new Poplar Hill campus), recoding of many positions between general, federal and grant funds, and ongoing difficulty filling special education bus aide roles.
District staff presented a staffing summary tied to the FY26 budget that showed 37.75 growth positions (many for the new Poplar Hill campus) plus notable vacancies for educational assistants and special education bus aides.
Dr. Sullivan reviewed the growth list: two instructional coaches, two academic interventionists, two behavior interventionists and multiple school‑level positions for Poplar Hill (half‑time principal, assistant principal days budgeted, secretary, bookkeeper and other staff). The district also included 11 open educational assistant (EA) positions in the budget, 33 special education EAs in another coding line, three requested school nurses (granted three), and two school counselors for Poplar Hill.
Staff said they had moved positions between funds to align with federal grants and state programs — for example, some EAs were recoded from federal accounts to general purpose and some positions were moved from general purpose to federal codes where allowable. Brian said 74 certified positions had been transferred within the district accounting lines (not counting special education certified moves); staff also noted that federal program changes such as disproportionality or midyear grant adjustments sometimes force budget recoding and amendments.
Board members raised persistent recruitment issues for SPED bus aides. Staff described the bus aide role as “one of our hardest, if not the hardest to fill in the district,” noting many vacancies are part‑time positions with scheduling and overtime constraints that make staffing complex. The district provided a headcount breakdown for bus aides: 26 FTEs (14 full‑time, 20 part‑time positions counted differently in FTE terms) and four current part‑time vacancies, which staff said equates to approximately 40 total bodies employed across shifts.
Ending: staff said final growth/vacancy lists will be refined before the board adopts the budget and that human resources and fiscal staff maintain position‑level records to ensure coding and funding source compliance.
