Education department details HR modernization, Everbridge safety app and digital‑forms rollout

Brandon Payne, assistant superintendent serving as interim deputy, briefed the board on recent personnel and efficiency changes inside the Alabama State Department of Education, including new hires, planned staff training and enterprise‑wide digital tools.

Payne said the department has hired a new HR director and a dedicated personnel training specialist; it will launch a Microsoft 365 applications academy to upgrade staff skills and will move hiring and onboarding to electronic processes so new employees can complete payroll and tax paperwork before their first day.

Payne described several technology deployments intended to improve response time and safety: Everbridge, a geofenced safety and mass‑notification application, will be deployed to allow staff to check in, locate employees in an emergency and support rapid conference calls for on‑site response after weather events; DocuSign is in use for contracts and memoranda to speed signature workflows; and a Perfect Forms implementation will be used for surveys and evidence collection (for example, literacy implementation data). Payne said the department vetted DocuSign extensively for security and will apply similar rigor to other systems.

Board members asked about database security and cross‑training to avoid operational delays when staff are out. Payne said the department treats security seriously, vetted platforms with internal IT and defense‑grade standards where appropriate, and is preparing cross‑training and a personnel activity dashboard so department leaders can track positions and assignments across sections.

No formal board action was taken; staff said they will continue deployment and training work and will provide additional updates as systems come online.