Latoya Austin, presenting the district human-resources update, said Hardin County Schools employs about 3,138 staff across certified, classified and support roles and highlighted recent recruiting and benefits work.

"From May, we have processed 487 new hires," Austin said, providing a breakdown: 86 teachers and administrators, 195 support staff (bus drivers, instructional assistants, food service workers and custodians), 123 substitutes and 30 coaches; the district also reported hiring 53 student workers. Austin said the district experienced 97 certified retirements or resignations and 104 classified retirements or resignations over the past year.

Austin told the board the district has provided cumulative cost-of-living adjustments totaling about 18.5% since the COVID period, which she credited with helping recruitment. She described recruiting efforts at Fort Knox and local career fairs, noting that a recent EC3 career fair with 47 attendees resulted in 15 classified hires, 3 certified hires and 6 substitutes.

On systems and costs, Austin said the district consolidated time-and-attendance and substitute management under PowerSchool (TCP and Smartbot, integrated into PowerSchool), eliminating the need for a separate PSST/Frontline implementation. She said the move reduced recurring annual system payments from about $179,604 previously to roughly $150,000 under the consolidated arrangement.

Austin also described benefits work including an annual benefits fair, plans for an employee-assistance program and a benefits resource website, and a list of optional benefit vendors (Transamerica, Aflac, Delta Dental, Mutual of Omaha). Board members thanked HR for the update; no board action followed.

Why it matters: Staffing levels, recruitment success and system savings affect classroom capacity and district operating costs. The board received the briefing as information and did not vote on HR policy in this meeting.

Next steps: Austin said HR will continue to roll out the employee-assistance program and the benefits website and invited board questions after providing the briefing.