Beacon City School District moves to streamline hiring, onboarding and staff supports

John Diametta, the district's HR director, told the Beacon City School District Board of Education on Oct. 20 that the district is pursuing a three-part operations strategy to recruit and retain staff, develop a long‑range budget and plan capital projects.

The board heard that the district has implemented an online onboarding and offboarding system called Schoolfront that centralizes applications, exit interviews and account deactivation. "If somebody applies for any type of position within the district, we can reach out to them and offer them additional positions that may be in the district," Diametta said, describing how the system lets HR contact applicants for other openings such as bus driver, bus monitor or custodial roles.

The HR presentation outlined additional retention and recognition measures: milestone celebrations, employee spotlights shared on district social media, coordinated department meetings to speed cross‑department problem solving, and a planned transfer/vacancy process in spring to identify and process internal transfers before external postings. Diametta said the district wants to post openings earlier in the spring to attract stronger candidate pools.

Administrators also described operational changes intended to reduce paperwork and speed hiring. The HR team said they digitized workers' compensation forms, streamlined reasonable accommodation requests with a one‑click web form, and are developing a faculty handbook to be available for hires next year. Diametta said the district has started mentoring and payroll literacy work for new staff and is finalizing a progressive discipline template developed with the district's law firm.

The board discussed measuring retention and what constitutes "high‑quality" staff. A board member asked for baseline retention metrics; Diametta responded the district will begin collecting and reporting data this year and will propose measures at a future meeting.

The HR team also reported in‑house CPR and first aid training provided by Amber Clemens; the district intends to make certification available to more employees. Diametta said the district cannot require all employees to be certified, noting state rules require certain staff (for example coaches and physical education teachers) to hold CPR certification but not all positions.

Board members asked about targeted recruitment and diversity efforts; Diametta said the HR team is exploring virtual screening interviews and job fairs discussed at a regional HR workshop and is open to hosting or joining events to reach more candidates.

The presentation concluded with a description of monthly principal check‑ins focused on probationary staff and other supports to improve retention. The HR director invited board members to ask questions and said the district will follow up with requested retention data.