Frederick County personnel committee reviews staffing, special-education hiring, EAP and HR systems

Frederick County School Board Personnel Committee chair Mr. Bell convened the Feb. 6 personnel committee meeting and heard a series of informational updates from district staff about staffing, recruitment and human-resources initiatives.

The presentations — led by Dr. Hummer and members of the FCPS human-resources team — covered teacher and support vacancies, recruitment pathways and partnerships, contracted substitute staffing, a special-education provisional-licensure partnership, the district’s employee assistance program, rollout of a new employee code of conduct and preliminary plans for a human capital management (HCM/HRIS) system.

Dr. Hummer, identified in the meeting as a district staff member, opened by saying, “We do have 7 items for you this evening. These are all for information only.” That sequence set the tone: the committee received updates and asked clarifying questions but took no policy votes apart from routine agenda approval and adjournment motions.

Why it matters: FCPS said personnel spending and the availability of qualified staff are the division’s largest operational issues. Several initiatives described at the meeting aim to reduce vacancy time, improve retention and move administrative tasks off paper systems.

Vacancies, hires and recruitment

Ms. Campbell (FCPS staff member) presented vacancy data showing teaching and support openings by level and content area. Special education remained a high-need area; the presentation noted 18 special-education vacancies earlier in the year with 10 of those at the elementary level. Ms. Campbell and other presenters later reported that, since the slides were prepared, the number of fully unfilled special-education positions had fallen to one, with other classrooms covered by long-term substitutes or contracted teachers.

Rachel Rinker (FCPS staff member, recruitment/retention) described recruitment activity: the division has held multiple job fairs (seven at the time of the presentation, with an additional fair added), ran a virtual career expo Jan. 23 and planned a licensed-educator career fair for March 1 at Aylor. Rinker said FCPS is working with George Mason University (GMU) under a grant to offer a course enabling provisional licensure for special-education teachers; of 24 course slots arranged through a multi-division partnership, FCPS took 22.

Rinker and colleagues said FCPS has developed six licensure pathways at little or no cost to candidates and is working on a seventh. For most of those pathways, the presenters said, new hires who receive financial or programmatic support commit to a multi-year employment period; the presenters said other programs include a three-year commitment requirement once participants reach full licensure. For the GMU course specifically, presenters said FCPS is guaranteeing applicants an interview but is not providing direct funding that would create a binding service obligation.

Turnover and resignation patterns

Recruitment staff reported preliminary turnover data showing an improvement from approximately 16% two school years ago to about 13% most recently; presenters said that mirrored statewide trends. Resignation data presented showed 172 resignations at the elementary level in the prior year compared with 110 at the secondary level, and the presenters noted that elementary-level vacancies have tended to remain open longer.

Contracted staffing and safety safeguards

When critical positions are fully vacant, FCPS said it has used external staffing firms. The district identified Emergis (an educational staffing company) as its primary contractor after a review of more than 20 firms. Presenters said contracted staff are employees of the vendor, not FCPS, and that vendors provide benefits and payroll for those workers. As an additional safeguard, FCPS said it fingerprints contracted staff in-house and reviews those results; the district also said the contract includes a buy-out provision allowing FCPS to hire a contracted staffer directly (at a contractually specified price) if the hire is mutually desirable.

Presenters clarified that the district does not pay ongoing fingerprinting costs: the district fingerprints the contracted staff but the vendor reimburses the district for that cost under the agreement.

Employee assistance program

Tashika Edwards-Johnson (FCPS staff member) briefed the committee on the district’s Employee Assistance Program (EAP). She described it as a free service for FCPS employees and household family members; the program includes up to four counseling sessions per person, resources for fitness and sleep, work-life supports, financial and legal guidance (for items such as budgeting, identity-theft protection and small-claims issues) and online tools including a phone line and website.

Code of conduct and professional learning

FCPS staff described the development and rollout of a new employee code of conduct. Presenters said the code was drafted after reviewing other districts’ documents, holding three in-person staff feedback sessions across job groups, issuing a division-wide survey and incorporating subsequent informal feedback. The stated purpose, presenters said, is to articulate baseline expectations to promote a respectful workplace and to provide a non-punitive framework for maintaining professional standards.

Separately, the HR department said it will deliver an HR best-practice learning series for administrators in 2025 with a focus on civility and topics raised in an administrator survey (difficult conversations, documenting performance, socially charged issues, cultivating culture and retention strategies). Sessions were planned for March and the first week of April.

Human capital management system (HRIS/HCM)

Staff described initial research into a human capital management system to replace paper-based processes for timekeeping, benefits, onboarding, performance management and learning. Presenters emphasized the possible efficiency gains for a staff body of roughly 3,000 employees and noted that FCPS’s HR team currently numbers about 10 people; staff cited a SHRM guideline (one to two HR professionals per 100 employees) to illustrate resourcing gaps. The district said it is proceeding cautiously on procurement and will coordinate with finance on any procurement steps.

Questions and next steps

Committee members asked clarifying questions about costs, service obligations associated with licensure pathways, vendor insurance and fingerprinting procedures. Presenters said vendor employees carry the vendor’s insurance and that the district’s MOU with Emergis provides protections for the division.

Two routine motions passed during the meeting: approval of the agenda at the start of the session and a motion to adjourn at the close. No substantive policy votes were taken; the items presented were informational.

Ending

FCPS staff invited board members to attend recruitment events, including the March 1 job fair, and said they would provide further updates to the personnel committee as recruitment pathways, the code-of-conduct rollout and the HCM procurement work proceed.