Hernando school board discusses splitting HR and professional-standards duties, no formal vote recorded

The Hernando County School Board discussed a proposal on Feb. 25 to revise a job description for the district’s executive director of business services into two distinct roles — a director of labor relations and professional standards and a director of human resources — but took no formal vote.

Board members and district staff presented data they said supports separating investigative and professional-standards work from broader human-resources duties. District Human Resources Director Matt Goldrick told the board that notifications and investigations handled by his office have grown sharply in recent years: "last year I put out 124 notifications, and this year we're already 65," and he said last year the district held 67 predetermination meetings compared with 30 so far this year. Goldrick said those duties take substantial time and include coordination with the Florida Department of Education professional-practices division, the Department of Children and Families and law-enforcement partners.

The proposal, listed in district materials as job description 125-2799 for a director of labor relations and professional standards, would restore a structure the district formerly used and that was originally created under Dr. Wendy Taloney in 2004, presenters said. The staff presentation included an estimate that differentiating and filling the two positions now would yield a short-term savings of $12,608.93.

Why it matters: Board members said they are balancing administrative capacity against capital needs. Board member Johnson urged caution, saying, "What I don't wanna see happen, because if we keep on spending money on more and more personnel, we're not gonna have money to build schools," and asked for clarity that the change would not add a net new position to the district payroll. District staff responded that the item is intended as a differentiation of an existing position rather than creation of a new, additional post.

Discussion and next steps: Staff said the executive director of business services position has been vacant since October and that Barbara Kidder has assumed many of the executive duties in the interim. Goldrick said he has been handling investigations and related work since 2015 and that, under the proposed structure, he would continue to perform the professional-standards and labor-relations duties while the district posts a revised director of human-resources position.

Board members asked staff to clarify reporting and evaluation language in the job descriptions. Several trustees said the documents currently read that the director positions would report to an "executive director of business services and/or designee," and requested that the staff identify the specific designee for reporting and evaluation if the executive-director position remains vacant. Staff agreed to revise the job descriptions to name the designee and to provide an updated organizational chart for the business-services area with current incumbents shown.

No formal motion or recorded vote was taken during the workshop. According to staff comments during the discussion, anticipated next steps are for the district to revise the job descriptions to specify reporting/evaluation lines, post the director of human resources position, and continue to have Goldrick carry out the professional-standards and labor-relations duties until the staffing changes are complete.

Board members and staff repeatedly framed these items as operational personnel decisions rather than immediate policy changes; the workshop format included requests for clarifying edits, an updated organizational chart and a public posting for the vacant director role.

The presentation cited the Pinellas County Schools Professional Standards Department as a model and noted coordination with the Florida Department of Education professional-practices division and the Public Employees Relations Commission (PERC) on labor-relations matters. The district also noted routine contacts with DCF and local law enforcement in staff-investigation work.

Ending: Staff said they will return revised job descriptions and an updated organizational chart to the board for further review; no date for a formal board action on the job-description changes was set during the workshop.