Shoreline School Board reviews HR report on hiring, substitute coverage and proposed civility policy

The Shoreline School Board convened Dec. 17, 2024, approved a consent agenda unanimously and then heard a detailed Human Resources briefing on hiring, substitute coverage, labor relations and a proposed professionalism ("civility") policy.

Executive Director Trina Stirk summarized work the seven-person HR team has completed in the past year and a half, including a move to electronic fingerprinting and digital contract and evaluation management to speed onboarding. "We moved to electronic fingerprinting... we're getting the results quickly," Stirk said, adding that the district has issued over 700 contracts without paper and processed more than 3,000 background checks this year.

Stirk provided staffing metrics the board asked for. As of Dec. 4, she said, "93% of all school-based certificated vacancies" were filled (80 of 82); 96% of classroom teacher positions were filled (48 of 50); and 87% of special-education classroom teacher vacancies were filled (13 of 15). She identified speech-language pathologists and counselor positions among the harder-to-fill certificated roles and said HR will continue targeted outreach.

On substitutes, Stirk said the district has hired 75 substitute teachers since June 2024 for a total active pool of 266 and 27 substitute paraprofessionals since June for a total of 190. "We typically are at about a 95% fill rate," she said, but noted coverage is most strained on Fridays and the days immediately before school breaks. Ronit Seberg, Director of Classified Staff, explained the district also plans to phase out emergency substitute certificates beginning in 2025 and wants substitutes to hold or pursue full teaching credentials: "We are phasing out that emergency teaching certificate program," Seberg said, and the district will support substitutes who are pursuing certification.

Seberg outlined the district's labor relations work: regular labor-management meetings with 14 bargaining groups, recently completed agreements for coaches/activity staff and a two-year roll-over for a maintenance contract through 2027, and four bargaining efforts coming in spring including the SEA (teachers) and two SEIU-represented groups.

Stirk emphasized equity and workforce goals tied to student demographics. She said the district's student population is broadly diverse (54% white; 16% multiracial; 12.8% Asian; 15.8% Black/African American; 16.6% Hispanic/Latino; under 1% Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander) while certificated staff remain disproportionately white (about 82%). "We need to establish measurable goals and baselines," Stirk said; HR told the board it will return with specific, trackable goals and exit-survey tools to better understand why staff leave.

The HR team proposed a new district-level professionalism or civility policy to address staff-to-staff concerns that fall short of the harassment/intimidation/bullying threshold yet still require district attention. Seberg said the intent is to provide an alternative to HIB procedures and to set expectations and steps for restorative conversations and problem solving. "Our policies don't specifically address any expectations around civility in the workplace," Seberg said; Stirk and Seberg said the policy would be co-developed with diverse stakeholders and aligned with collective-bargaining obligations.

Board members asked for practical details: how coverage works when substitutes are unavailable, how Shoreline compares to neighboring districts, and how HR will quantify process-improvement savings. Stirk described school coverage plans (teachers covering prep periods, administrators or deans stepping in) and said some savings are visible—fewer paper processes and better benefit/FTE tracking—but that a district-wide dollar estimate is not yet calculated.

The board recessed its special meeting and then adjourned the study session after thanking HR. Stirk said HR aims to return with a proposal and timeline for the civility policy and measurable diversity/retention goals before spring. The consent agenda vote (items 1a–1b) was moved by Director Cohen, seconded by Vice President Hill and adopted unanimously.

What’s next: HR will provide the board with a timeline and a proposed civility/professionalism policy and with disaggregated data and measurable goals for diversifying and retaining staff.