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Portsmouth outlines yearlong staff wellness, aims for statewide model
Summary
HR Director Kim Maguire presented a district staff-wellness and professional-development program funded in part by one-year RIDE grants, including a revamped orientation, a three-part wellness series, and partnerships with Right At School and the Rhode Island Interlocal Trust.
The Portsmouth School District outlined an expanded staff wellness and professional development program at the April 14 school committee meeting, saying the work is funded in part by one-year grants from the Rhode Island Department of Education and built around the district’s five-year strategic plan.
Kim Maguire, the district’s HR director, said personal well-being is now named alongside professional development as a district priority and described initiatives launched this year: a redesigned new-staff "adventure passport" orientation that tours district sites, a three-part wellness series beginning with a winter kickoff and concluding with an end-of-year event, and ongoing programs through the Rhode Island Interlocal Trust (including an employee assistance program and Health Matters offerings).
"This shift in the workplace has been evolving for a while now," Maguire said, noting the district presented its model to the Rhode Island Healthy Schools Coalition and received follow-up requests from other districts. She also credited RIDE grant funding and said the district has budgeted some wellness funds in HR moving forward.
Maguire said the district will transition its summer before- and after-school program vendor from AlphaBest to Right At School and is finalizing licensing and contracts. She described the RIDE award as a one-year grant and said the district has secured "some funds" in the HR budget to sustain portions of the work, while certain services (counseling and employee assistance) remain available through the Interlocal Trust.
Committee members asked about the fidelity of virtual learning practices (raised elsewhere in the meeting) and whether wellness activities can be sustained beyond the grant period. Maguire replied the district is exploring budget support and leveraging existing trust services to make key elements ongoing while preserving grant-funded expansion as a demonstration model.
The presentation included program metrics: staff survey participation rose about 50% over last year; the wellness passport links participation across events to small incentives; and the district received statewide recognition for its model. The committee did not take a separate vote on the presentation but discussed sustaining the work in future budgets.
