Allentown board presses HR on turnover data, FMLA reporting

Board members of the Allentown School District pressed human-resources officials Thursday over whether the district’s turnover data and Family and Medical Leave Act filings capture employees whose leave stems from workplace conditions.

The discussion followed a personnel report by district talent staff showing a post-pandemic spike in separations and a gradual reduction in turnover back toward pre-pandemic levels. The presentation said total district employment rose from 2,576 in 2019 to 2,690 in the current year and that national data from the National Center for Education Statistics show staffing strains remain for paraprofessionals and mental‑health professionals.

“Is the information being captured?” Board President Miss Brown asked during a sustained question-and-answer exchange. “I want to know if the situations that have happened within the district relating to certain employees that have had work related issues is included within the data that is presented in front of us.”

Mister Noble, who the superintendent introduced as the staff member supervising employee benefits and the district’s FMLA process, told the board that federal FMLA eligibility is limited to statutorily enumerated categories — such as an employee’s own serious health condition or family caregiving — and that “work‑related conditions are not in and of itself a category that’s enumerated under federal law.” He said employers typically record the FMLA category (medical, family, military, bonding) rather than labeling a case “work‑related” and that the district captures leave dates and termination/ separation dates through its Skyward employee information system.

Board members asked whether cases that they understand to be triggered or worsened by workplace stress are nevertheless counted in the slides presented as “medical” separations. “I just want to know if that information is included in the numbers because the numbers do not seem accurate,” Miss Brown said.

Noble and talent-management staff member Mister Singh said the district can only report what employees and their medical documentation provide and that privacy laws limit public disclosure of identifiable health information. The administration agreed to provide the board a written breakdown explaining how FMLA cases are coded in Skyward and whether those entries would appear in the categories shown on the turnover slides.

Board members and administration also discussed retention efforts the district is pursuing, including internal pipeline programs, professional learning, Spanish classes for staff, leadership development, and the district’s recent decision to hire additional social‑work staff. The superintendent and talent staff said those efforts aim to reduce separations and to offer supports that could prevent some employees’ issues from rising to the level of long FMLA leaves.

The board requested a follow‑up email with the FMLA‑coding explanation and the underlying data counts; the administration said it will provide that information to board members.