10/07/2013 – HR Report


Dr. Tekshia M. Ward-Smith, Chief Human Resources Officer
99 new contracted employees
243 new non contracted employees
82 resignations
11 terminations
The new non contracted employees is due to increasing our substitute pool in order to comply with the Affordable Care Act.  We have a new substitute time management process in place.  We have invited a number of retired teachers to come back and teach.
I have provided to you a folder of information to you that I’d like to reference.  In that folder is the vacancy report as of of today’s date, Oct 7th.  We show that we have a total of 49 vacancies.  Of those 49, 7 are Title I positions.  Essentially 42 instructional vacancies plus 7 Title I Vacancies.
The next attachment I have provided, Mr. Orson, you asked how we compare to other districts.  This is a comparison from the state in terms of how we compare in resignations to other districts.  The numbers you have before you are the teachers for October 2011.  The teachers, by district, that were on roster for March 2011.  Of those teachers that were on roster for March 2011, how many still remain in October of 2011.  Note, that was done for 2011, October 2012 and we are currently in October of 2013.
We are completing our FTE and CCPI report this month.  That information will be forthcoming in December.  I call your attention to the different attrition and retention rates per district over the course of those school years.
Superintendent
Can you summarize what the report shows for those in the audience?
Dr. Ward-Smith
DeKalb ranked 91 percentile in October 2011 regarding retention.  There were 2 districts above us, Cobb County and Gwinnett.  There were 3 districts that ranked below DeKalb, Fulton, Rockdale and APS for the school year October 2011.  Once again, we retained 91% of our teachers.  October 2012 shows that we retained 88% of our teachers.  October 2013 will be provided by the state in December.
The last document as it relates to vacancies, is a summation of the teachers that left the school district.  For 2011, a total 540. 2012, a total of 684.  2013, a total of 852 left.
Mayfield
Are the retention numbers based on the net positions filled or based on the actual turnover?
Dr. Ward-Smith
If your retention rates are guided relative to the number of individuals that leave that’s one particular number.  In the district, we cut a number of positions.
Mayfield
Right, and as it relates to student performance …
****** PDS Technical Difficulties ****************
Orson
There’s nothing that prohibits us from providing more than the minimally required information in these reports.  Mr. Coleman has asked for that, hopefully we can find a way to report it.  One of the questions I asked was on the impact of class sizes.
When I look at the teacher resignation data, there is a significant upward trend for teachers seeking positions outside our system.
Dr. Ward-Smith
The contract not accepted was a code we added this year.  When comparing DeKalb to other districts it’s important to note no other system had 6 years of no furloughs, step increases and cost of living adjustments.  So, it’s important to note that information is inherent in our numbers.  Certainly, I will take your comments back to the Superintendent.
Orson
Please include Clayton with your metro school system analysis.
Dr. Johnson
This item will be placed on the consent agenda.