Sun Prairie report shows strong retention and satisfaction but flags shortfall in hires of people of color

Nick Rykoff, assistant superintendent of operations for the Sun Prairie Area School District, presented Operational Results 4, the district’s human-resources monitoring report, saying it will be forwarded to the Sun Prairie Area School District board for consideration on Feb. 9, 2026.

Rykoff said the report covers recruitment, retention, employee demographics and organizational culture and is intended to track progress rather than only compliance. “There are 10 measures, of reasonable progress in OR 4, and reasonable progress was achieved in 8 of those 10 measures,” he said.

The report highlighted several positive measures. Rykoff said the district’s position fill rate by the first day of school was 98.6% and that retention of new staff was 91.1%. He cited strong onboarding results: “94.3% of employees felt valued during the onboarding process,” and said an overall retention rate of 92.5% met the district goal of 90% or higher across employee groups and among employees of color. Staff survey results also showed that 93% of employees agreed the district is a good place to work and 95.7% said they utilize feedback from supervisors or colleagues. Rykoff noted a rise in one wellness metric: clinic utilization increased “from 61% to 79%.”

At the same time, Rykoff identified areas that require additional focus. He said one measure did not make reasonable progress: the count of applicants and new hires who identify as people of color, with two of four employee groups decreasing slightly while two increased. “We had 2 groups that decreased slightly and 2 groups that increased slightly,” he said, explaining the measure is tracked separately for support staff, professional educators, administrative support and administrators.

Rykoff described planned actions to improve applicant diversity and retention: strengthening relationships with university career-placement offices that have higher numbers of students of color, expanding participation in job fairs, promoting employee referrals and enhancing onboarding supports. “We will continue to participate in job fairs, use word-of-mouth through our referral program where existing employees can refer new employees, and ensure that we are supporting employees as they're onboarded and work in the system to retain them,” he said.

The district also flagged one failed measure related to professional development. Rykoff said the earlier goal that professional-development hours should increase every year proved not to be a reliable performance indicator because PD hours are “highly contingent on the compensation structure for each employee group” and have diminishing returns. “This doesn't seem to be the greatest measure after all, and we'll look at finding a measure that better relates to the spirit of 4.2 for the coming year,” he said.

Rykoff closed by outlining priorities for 2025–26: integrating core values and behaviors into evaluation and supervision; continuing efforts to recruit applicants of different backgrounds; expanding the district’s award‑winning wellness program (including the Dean SSM clinic); and ensuring structured onboarding for all positions. He said the report shows progress with exceptions noted and invited board discussion on Feb. 9.

The district will present the full Operational Results 4 report to the Sun Prairie Area School District board on Feb. 9, 2026, when board members can ask questions and consider next steps.