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Hobbs schools outline recruitment, ‘Grow Your Own’ program; auditors flag missing background-check documents
Summary
Human resources leaders described recruitment, mentoring and Grow Your Own training for prospective teachers and staff. Auditors later reported six personnel files missing background-check documentation; district leaders said missing records predated new digital filing systems and that checks were completed.
Hobbs Municipal Schools human resources staff told the school board on Feb. 25 they are focusing on recruitment, retention and development of district staff through programs including a Grow Your Own teacher pipeline and expanded mentor and new-teacher support.
Deputy Superintendent for Human Resources Sandy Engel described monthly professional development for new teachers and efforts to pair new hires with on-campus mentors. The district’s Grow Your Own program places paraprofessionals and prospective teachers at New Mexico Junior College and Eastern New Mexico University courses; Engel said the cohorts have grown from initial numbers and now include roughly 19 participants at the junior college and about 17 at Eastern as the program enters its second cohort.
HR staff also highlighted district-paid master’s-education support, licensure labs to manage certification renewals, and substitute/classified staff onboarding. HR described a department structure with specialists for benefits, certified onboarding, classified personnel and licensure/substitute administration.
During the audit presentation later in the meeting, auditors reported six personnel files (of the 37 reviewed) lacked accessible background-check documentation. Auditor Terry Ogle of Accounting and Financial Solutions said the missing files appear to predate a digital record migration, and noted the district’s hiring processes require background checks before staff work with students. Superintendent Strickland and HR leaders said they reviewed all employee files after the audit sample was identified and do not believe staff were placed in classrooms without required checks; HR staff said some checks existed but were not filed where expected due to a vendor change in the state background-check system and older paper records.
Board members asked questions about retention, compensation and recruitment in a local labor market that pays well for oil-and-gas workers. Board and staff discussed plans to recruit in-service teachers and to continue adjusting the Grow Your Own program to improve retention. HR said retention for Grow Your Own participants has been better than earlier hire pools.
No new policies or contractual changes were approved during the HR presentation. The district noted it will continue efforts to consolidate records and to follow up on the audit findings.
