Manor ISD HR reports turnover decline but projects higher 2024–25 rate amid HB 2 and international-teacher departures

Manor ISD human-resources staff reported to the board on Sept. 15 that the district reduced teacher turnover significantly in 2023–24 but expects turnover to be higher for 2024–25 because of certification changes and international-teacher departures.

Executive Director of Human Resources (presenting in a substitute role) said the district’s turnover rate was about 40.9% in 2022–23 and fell to about 25.3% in 2023–24. She said both a manually calculated and an automated (TEA/TAPR-derived) figure were used for the 2023–24 calculation and that differences amounted to about 0.04 percentage points (approximately two or three positions) in a large dataset of more than 600 records. For 2024–25 she said the HR projection was 32.3% assuming the district maintained its balanced budget; she added that if the district had been able to operate under the prior budget assumptions the rate would have been near the 25% target. (HR presentation: transcript blocks beginning at 8255.715.)

The presenter identified two main drivers likely to increase turnover for the 2025–26 staffing year: (1) visiting international teachers in their fifth year who are scheduled to return home (about 25 teachers), and (2) House Bill 2 changes that eliminate a district-of-innovation local certification route for uncertified teachers, affecting roughly 50 current staff members who must obtain standard certification. HR said it had scheduled orientation sessions and a year-long timeline for affected staff and was coordinating with certification and central-office teams to support employees seeking standard certification. The HR presenter said many affected staff had already made progress toward certification. (Transcript: HR section and Q&A blocks 8255–8577.)

Trustees asked whether the retention metrics apply only to classroom teachers; HR confirmed the district used TEA’s definition (classroom teachers) for the turnover metric. Trustees also asked about vacancies and whether principals are permitted to begin hiring before the board’s formal approval of additional staffing; the administration said principals have been authorized to begin posting and interviewing pending board approval, and the district has funding offsets that permit hiring for a requested 17 teacher positions and eight paraeducators (about $1.1 million in new staffing positions) using realized savings and revenue offsets. (Financial/HR Q&A: transcript blocks 8719–8926.)

Ending: HR agreed to provide trustees additional data and spreadsheets used to reconcile manual calculations and TAPR-reported numbers; HR emphasized support strategies for staff affected by HB 2 and scheduled orientation for impacted employees.