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Aurora East board hears HR plan to boost retention and digitize hiring
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Summary
District HR leaders told the board they are prioritizing staff retention through wellness, recruitment pathways and bargaining, and expanding electronic systems including Frontline Central and a new case-management tool to streamline hiring, onboarding and employee-incident tracking.
Human-resources leaders for Aurora East USD 131 laid out a two-part plan to retain staff and modernize personnel systems at the school board meeting Tuesday.
Dr. David Ballard, associate superintendent of staff and student services, told the board the district employs about "approximately 1,800 staff members" and handles roughly 400 new-employee intakes a year, using those figures to frame the HR goals presented. "One is increasing our staff retention by developing wellness plans, ... enhancing our recruitment and retention pathways," Ballard said. He said the district is also focused on "improving operational efficiency through enhanced utilization and implementation of electronic based systems."
HR staff described immediate steps the district has taken. An HR presenter said the district partnered with All1Health to offer on-demand wellness resources and monthly webinars, and provided four wellness sessions during a recent institute day. The HR team is also expanding recruiting partnerships with universities, mock interviews, and pipelines to attract candidates.
The district has broadened its use of Frontline Central beyond hiring paperwork, staff said. "Frontline Central has automated many of our processes," a presenter said, and the system now handles name changes, resignations, retirements and contract processing; staff noted intake meetings took about 80% less time after automation. The district also described proactive recruiting capabilities, such as targeted email outreach to candidates who view job postings.
To track employee incidents and investigations, the district selected the Guardian case-management system, Ballard said, explaining the tool will provide a consistent way to record incidents, manage investigations and coordinate with building administrators. "We selected a case management system called Guardian, which allows us to have a consistent way to track that information," he said. HR presenters said consistent templates and workflows for investigations are being developed to promote fairness and accountability while supporting employee development.
Board members asked questions and the HR team said it would continue building dashboards and training materials to support building leaders and to refine staff-placement decisions based on enrollment and program needs. Ballard said the district aims to prioritize filling positions internally when possible and to post hard-to-fill positions earlier.
The presentation closed with an offer to answer follow-up questions and with the board thanking HR staff for the work on retention and operational changes.
