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Town and schools discuss shared HR role as a way to centralize benefits and onboarding
Summary
Officials discussed a potential shared HR position to centralize benefits administration (FMLA, COBRA, retiree benefits) and reduce task overlap; the town manager’s budget includes an assistant HR position that could be tailored to support the school department.
The Smithfield school committee and town council discussed a possible shared human-resources role at their April 8 joint meeting as officials seek to consolidate onboarding, benefits administration and other HR functions currently split across multiple staff.
Chair (S1) opened the agenda item asking for an update on the proposed HR position. Committee members said the town manager has included a full-time assistant HR position in the town budget and that the town envisions that role handling FMLA, COBRA and retiree-benefits administration, while school-specific certification checks and classroom-related staffing would remain with the school department. Presenter (S7) said the intent is to “work together” so that the new position would primarily be town-funded but could be dedicated to school-department needs in practice; a shared document and interview plan are in the shared folder for committee review.
Timing and duties: members said they expect hiring could occur in May if the budget process and job-description tweaks allow it. The committee discussed interview-team composition and said the school department plans to include school committee members and town staff on screening panels should the position move forward. Committee members also raised concerns about workload, software compatibility (SchoolSpring, Frontline versus the town’s ADP system) and how the role would interface with district-specific systems for substitutes, attendance and certification validation.
Next steps: presenters will refine the job description, confirm which duties are townwide versus school-specific, and, if the position survives the budget process, participate in interviews with school representatives included on the panel.
