Kirkwood presents draft staffing plan; staff recommend hiring pause, attrition‑based reductions and position‑management tools
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Summary
District HR presented sections 3 and 4 of a draft comprehensive staffing plan outlining FTE growth since 2014–15, capacity metrics, and eight preliminary recommendations including a temporary hiring pause, a structured staffing‑request process, attrition‑based reductions and a position management system.
Dr. Fields, the district staff lead on the comprehensive staffing plan, presented components 3 and 4 of a draft Kirkwood School District comprehensive staffing plan and gave a preliminary set of eight recommendations intended to align staffing with enrollment trends, FTE growth and fiscal projections. The presentation was labeled preliminary and the full staffing plan is scheduled for final presentation on March 31.
Dr. Fields told the board that total positions increased from 1,423 in the 2014–15 school year to 1,712 in 2024–25, a net gain of 289 positions. District FTE grew from 756.95 to 846.68 over that period (an approximate 11.9 percent increase). Certified FTE rose from 423.25 to 458.22; support staff FTE grew from 302.7 to 353.46; administrative FTE moved from 31 to 35. The analysis uses DESE maximum class size standards as an analytical baseline and aligns staffing capacity discussion with MSIP 6 guidance, Dr. Fields said.
Dr. Fields summarized the eight preliminary recommendations: (1) complete the full staffing plan before making final staffing adjustments; (2) implement a temporary pause on adding staff except for clearly justified critical needs; (3) establish a more structured approval process for new staffing requests; (4) develop a multiyear attrition‑based reduction plan to avoid abrupt layoffs; (5) implement a centralized workload‑tracking system for teachers and support specialists; (6) assess middle‑school schedule alignment to allow potential staff sharing between middle schools; (7) reduce reliance on temporary staff through a consolidation assessment; and (8) adopt a position management system (an "Infinite Campus for staff") that integrates HR, finance and payroll data and produces annual reports and trend analysis.
Dr. Fields emphasized the preliminary nature of the work and the need to refine recommendations after additional financial and enrollment analysis. He described the methodology and external resources used, including EXMI (consultant analysis), Harvard’s Strategic Data Project materials, SHRM workforce planning guidance, Infinite Campus and PowerSchools/eFinancePlus data extracts, and Microsoft Power BI for visualization.
Board members pressed for details about potential effects on next year’s budget and contingency teacher positions. Board member Miss Andrews said the December memo indicating no contingency teachers in the 2025–26 budget had raised concern because the district added 12 positions the prior year. Andrews asked how reductions could be addressed through attrition when middle‑ and high‑school needs may increase as elementary enrollments matriculate upward. Dr. Fields and Chief Financial Officer Mike Romay (identified in the packet) responded that projected attrition (the presentation cited roughly 53 certified staff and about 47 support staff eligible for retirement through 2031) could provide a glide path, and that final staffing decisions would integrate final enrollment and budget figures before the June budget approval.
Board members asked for more granular workload measures beyond headcount—requests include accounting for students receiving Tier 2/Tier 3 supports, IEP and 504 caseloads, and other non‑instructional duties. Dr. Fields said Power BI and other systems could incorporate those variables and recommended building workload formulas once baseline ratios are established.
Members also asked about software options for position management. Dr. Fields noted several solutions exist (Frontline products, PowerSchools/eFinance integrations) but said the district had not chosen a vendor and would evaluate options with HR and finance staff.
No formal board action was taken; staff will finalize the full draft and present the complete staffing plan to the board on March 31. Several board members requested additional detail about contingency funding, the financial memo from the CFO, and the plan’s projected operational impacts prior to budget adoption.