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Mount Lebanon reports staffing shifts, openings and recruitment efforts in HR midyear update
Summary
The district reported 11 years of staffing data showing 19 more total staff than 2014-15 but 30 fewer staff compared with last year; officials said vacancies result from attrition and noted ongoing recruitment challenges in PCAs, cafeteria and transportation.
Pat Connolly, director of operations who oversees human resources, gave a midyear staffing update to the Board of School Directors on Feb. 10, describing 11 years of staffing trends, current vacancies and changes in HR practice.
Connolly said the district has 19 more total staff than in the 2014-15 school year but that staffing has fallen by 30 positions compared with the 2023-24 school year. "We have 30 less total staff," she said, and clarified that the changes were not furloughs but the result of retirements, resignations and reassignment of positions.
Connolly reviewed category-level shifts: compared with 2014-15, she reported three more professional employees, three fewer secretaries/clerks/aids/partner nurses, six more personal care assistants (PCAs), nine fewer administrative assistants and specialists, five more food-service staff, four more custodial/maintenance staff, and seven fewer long-term substitutes. She also reported the student-to-teacher ratio was 12.5 in 2024-25 compared with 12.3 in 2014-15.
Comparing the current school year to last year, Connolly said the district has one fewer administration position, eight fewer professional employees, seven fewer long-term substitutes, seven fewer secretaries/clerks/aids/support nurses, three fewer PCAs, two fewer admin assistants and specialists, and two fewer custodial/maintenance positions. She emphasized that an open position may still be accounted for on the rolls even if vacant.
Connolly described changes in HR practice including adoption of the ProSoft web portal to provide employee self-service (paycheck history, W-2 downloads), participation in the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA) student-teacher stipend program, and ongoing review of organizational charts and job descriptions. She said the district currently lists about a dozen open positions and that recruiting remains ongoing.
Board members and staff highlighted a staffing improvement in PCAs: a board speaker praised the reduction in open PCA positions and thanked Connolly's team and others for the change. Connolly credited social-media outreach and internal reassignment as part of recruitment and retention efforts.
Connolly also flagged sector-wide K-12 hiring trends that the district has seen: local shortages affecting cafeteria, PCA, facilities and transportation roles; applicant
