Recommendation 1
Strategy Evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of the district’s personnel practices.
Action Needed Step 1: Develop methodology to periodically (every three years) evaluate personnel practices in the Department of Human Resources along with districtwide personnel practices. Goals, objectives, standards, and benchmarks should be developed to assess the effectiveness and efficiency of the office and its personnel practices.
Step 2: Evaluate the Human Resources Department according to the goals, objectives, standards, and benchmarks developed.
Step 3: Produce and provide a report of the results of the evaluation to the Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources and personnel staff.
Step 4: Use the results to develop goals and strategies to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the Human Resources Department.
Who Is Responsible Assistant Superintendent and the five directors of the Department of Human Resources, with technical assistance from the Office of Testing, Evaluation, and Accountability.
Time Frame December 1999 and every three years.
Fiscal Impact This recommendation can be implemented with existing resources.
Recommendation 2
Strategy Restructure the process used in fingerprinting new hires for employment, the monitoring of the fingerprints, and the maintenance of records to improve the efficiency of the entire process.
Action Needed Step 1: Place the entire process of fingerprinting with the Office of Public Safety. This process would include:
• taking the fingerprints;
• entering a record of each new hire into a security database which would record date of prints taken and when cleared;
• depositing checks with accounting;
• sending prints off to the FDLE;
• monitoring the security clearances when returned;
• entering clearance into database of new hires;
• sending lists of new hires who have passed clearance to the instructional and support staff personnel clerks;
• relaying records from FDLE of new hires (other than ABM, Sunshine, and volunteers)22 who did not pass clearance to the Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources; and
• sending letters to new hires that need to have their prints retaken.
Step 2: The Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources sends letters to those new hires that did not pass clearance using the same process as currently is in place.
Step 3: The public safety database of those new hires should be placed on-line and available as “read only” to personnel clerks, directors of human resources, the Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources, and other district staff identified with a “need to know.”
Who Is Responsible The Superintendent is responsible for making the organizational change. The Director of Public Safety and the Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources are responsible for implementing the new process.
Time Frame September 1999
Fiscal Impact This can be implemented with existing resources.
Recommendation 3
Strategy Develop annual reports to identify the absenteeism and turnover rates for teachers and compare Brevard County to its peer districts.
22 “ABM” refers to custodial employees for which the district contracts through ABM, a private custodial services company. “Sunshine” refers to temporary employees for which the district contracts through Sunshine Staffing Services. “Volunteer” refers to individuals who seek to volunteer in the schools. The results of fingerprinting for these three classes are handled outside the Office of Public Safety and the Human Resources Department. Problems with ABM and Sunshine fingerprint results are referred back to the private companies; problems with volunteer fingerprint results are referred to the Office of Community Involvement.
Action Needed Step 1: Have the MIS department produce monthly reports of absences so Human Resources staff can study and assess absences over time (months in which most of the absences occur and possible reasons) and study the costs of bringing in teacher substitutes.
Step 2: Have the MIS department compile an annual report on the number of teachers who leave the district in a school year.
Step 3: Compare absenteeism and turnover rates to Brevard’s peer districts annually.
Step 4: Develop conclusions, possible ways to reduce absenteeism, and produce a report to the Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources at the end of the school year.
Step 5: Develop conclusions, possible ways to reduce turnover and produce a report at the end of the school year.
Who Is Responsible MIS Director and the directors of support staff employment and instructional employment.
Time Frame June 2000
Fiscal Impact This recommendation can be implemented with existing resources.
Recommendation 4
Strategy Reduce the number of personnel recruitment clerks serving as receptionists from three to one. In times of heavy activity in the department, temporary staff should be hired to assist.
Action Needed Step 1: Eliminate two front desk staff positions in the Department of Human Resources by attrition or reassignment.
Step 2: Once the positions have been eliminated, the duties associated with these positions should be reassigned to the remaining recruitment clerk.
Step 3: In heavy activity periods, temporary help should be hired to assist the recruitment clerk.
Who Is Responsible Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources.
Time Frame September 1999
Fiscal Impact The elimination of two personnel recruitment clerks will save the district
$49,154. This figure is based on an annual salary of a recruitment clerk of
$18,479 plus benefits of $6,098 times two for a total savings of $49,154
7 The district does not have an automated personnel record-keeping system that adequately and proficiently maintains employee data.
While the district is adequately maintaining hard copy records of documents pertaining to employees, the district’s human resources automated personnel management system is ineffective and unproductive. As a result of a districtwide change in software systems two years ago, the district does not have a sufficient automated record-keeping system. However, the district does maintain personnel records timely, in accordance to state statutes.