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Board approves ATS addendum to address staffing shortages in operations
Summary
The board approved a contract addendum allowing the district to use ATS employees (on ATS payroll) to fill critically short classified positions such as food service and custodial work; staff said the addendum is optional, used when district recruiting fails and is expected to be cost-effective compared with overtime or other stopgap measures.
The McPherson USD 418 Board of Education approved an addendum to the district’s agreement with ATS to allow ATS to supply employees to fill critically understaffed classified positions, including food service and custodial work.
Under the addendum, ATS employees would be on ATS payroll and benefits while the district would retain day-to-day supervision. ‘‘They would be ATS employees…their payroll would come from ATS. Their benefits would come through them,’’ a district presenter said. The district retains managerial oversight and would involve ATS in personnel actions if dismissal became necessary.
Administrators told the board ATS helped fill multiple positions at the high school and improved custodial quality there. Board members pressed for cost clarity: staff said ATS would add a markup (presented as $1.43 per hour for a full-time position in the example provided, producing an estimated $2,974 per FTE annually above the district’s cost in the top-end scenario). Staff said the addendum is flexible and would only be used when district recruiting efforts are exhausted; if ATS is not needed in a future year, the district can discontinue use at contract renewal.
The board also discussed alternatives such as raising base wages or working with temp agencies; staff said earlier pay increases had not resolved all vacancies and that ATS had demonstrated results where other approaches did not. Administrators said using ATS could be cheaper than paying overtime or diverting higher-paid staff to cover essential functions.
The board voted to approve the addendum on a voice vote. Staff said they would monitor outcomes, continue recruiting directly and report back on usage and costs.
