Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Administration And Operations topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Superintendent presents Collins Center report; district outlines phased HR and facilities fixes
Summary
The Collins Center review found inconsistent communication, siloed operations and underused technology in Fall River’s HR and facilities operations; the administration outlined four priority action areas and a phased plan through December 2026 with immediate steps already underway.
At the Dec. 8 meeting, Superintendent Tracy Curley presented findings from an organizational review by the UMass Collins Center that examined Human Resources and Facilities operations. The review, based on interviews, surveys and document reviews, produced 27 findings and 35 recommendations grouped into General Administration, HR and Facilities.
Curley summarized district-wide themes including “inconsistent communication and follow through, siloed operations, manual processes and limited use of technology, and the absence of consistent protocols.” She said the Collins team used 28 interviews and responsibility surveys to reach its conclusions.
The Collins Center recommended four priority actions: external facilitation to set norms for leadership teams, professional development (including investigation and supervisory training), development of a communications plan, and standardized talent-management practices. Curley said the district will implement those recommendations in two phases across Dec. 2025–Dec. 2026 and would report quarterly on progress.
HR director Kevin Lally described immediate steps already taken: hiring an HR coordinator (correcting a backup typo that listed a prior year), rolling out an applicant-tracking system, digitizing employee records and forms, cleaning HR data, and tightening evaluation timelines. Lally said those changes are improving onboarding and record retention and that the district plans principal and leadership training on investigations during a February professional-development day.
Facilities chief Ken Pacheco described upgrades to the work-order database and an asset-management push to record equipment and maintenance schedules. He said the department is prioritizing procurement improvements (more blanket purchase orders and bid packages) and intends to publish maintenance schedules for fire suppression, HVAC and other critical systems. Pacheco also said the district is evaluating when to phase in district-owned vehicles in place of personal-car mileage allowances for maintenance staff.
Committee members sought more granular evidence behind some Collins findings, including the interviews and survey responses that led to the cited themes, and asked for clear timelines. Several members asked for a one-page progress report on items such as the work-order system implementation, procurement steps and job-description alignment.
What’s next: Administration committed to quarterly updates and to passing a concise timeline and one-page implementation summary to the School Committee showing which recommendations have been completed, which are in progress, and expected completion dates.
Sources: Collins Center report summary presented by Superintendent Curley and follow-up remarks by HR director Kevin Lally and Facilities director Ken Pacheco at the Dec. 8 School Committee meeting.
