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USD 418 approves ATS staffing addendum to fill critical classified vacancies
Summary
The McPherson USD 418 board approved an addendum with ATS to supply on-site employees for critically short custodial, food-service and other classified positions; staff said the partnership has already shown early improvements at the high school and was presented as a targeted, year-to-year tool while district hiring continues.
The McPherson USD 418 Board of Education voted to approve an addendum with ATS to provide on-site employees for critically short classified roles, including custodial and food-service positions.
District staff said ATS employees would remain on ATS payroll and benefits while the district would retain day-to-day oversight. Board members and staff framed the agreement as a targeted, flexible tool to address urgent shortages rather than a permanent replacement for district hiring.
"This would allow us to partner with ATS to make sure that we can still find those" candidates, a district presenter said, arguing ATS was able to recruit staff the district had been unable to find internally. Staff reported early improvement at the high school where ATS is already working.
Board members pressed for cost and budgeting details. Staff described a pricing structure they characterized as a per-hour markup — cited in discussion as $1.43/hour on a full-time-equivalent basis and $1.59/hour for part time — and presented a top-end annual estimate that equated to about $2,974 per full-time equivalent at the $1.43 markup when modeled over a year. Staff also said that if ATS is not used, the cost is zero; if used, the markup is the incremental cost.
Concerns focused on the open-ended nature of the expense (how many ATS employees might be needed), insurance and whether ATS staff could operate district vehicles. Staff said insurance and operational details would be worked through before assigning staff to roles such as driving buses and that ATS use would be targeted to critical shortages (food service, transportation) rather than across all departments.
Supporters said the addendum can reduce overtime and the cost of managers filling in for vacant hourly positions; critics urged continued priority on recruiting permanent employees and better budget transparency.
The board approved the addendum by voice vote. Staff said they will monitor results, report back on numbers placed and recommend whether to continue the arrangement next year.
Next steps: ATS implementation begins where needed and staff will report placement and cost data to the board over the coming months.
