HR Update -

- Staff Help Center

- Top Workplaces Survey

- Wage and Benefit Notification

- How to Read Your Paystub

- Retirement/Resignation Incentive

- Professional Advancement

- Internal Transfer Process

- TalentEd Perform Information

- Vector Training

- Leave Page

The Staff Help page holds answers to many of your questions. It has recently been combined with the former "Staff Links" page to create a one stop shop for staff to find answers to many of their quetions. It is a work in progress and will continue to evolve as the year progresses

Check there for important information and answers to simple questions about pay, changing your tax information, leave, handbooks, etc.

A survey will be sent this week to measure workplace engagement. The feedback will compare districts and organizations across the country on their workplace satisfaction. This is run through an outside company and is not a part of our typical InsightEx or Pulse Survey process. We don't know what type of data we will receive, but staff should not assume that it is anonymous.

Updated wage and benefit information was been sent in Records. Log into your Records account on THIS LINK. Sign your benefit notification if it is accurate. If you feel that there is an error, complete THIS GOOGLE FORM.

If you have completed your form, please print a copy for your records and know that you can access this information from Records at any time.

There have been a few questions as staff receive their first check for September. If you are new to reading your paystub, or just don't do it every month, there are instructions and a visual aid that can be found at Staff Help Center > Payroll > How to read your paystub.

A few things to consider:

• Even if you received a raise, your paycheck *could* have gone down if you changed your benefit elections, due to the increased cost of benefits, change in other deducations such as contributing to a 403(b), etc.
• Retirement contributions will now change annually in July due to a new state statute, so you may see that number fluctuation where it has previously been stagnant.
• The one time payment to compensate for the loss of income for some staff will be spread out throughout the year and will not appear as a one time stipend.
• You are not able to change your benefit elections at this point in time. Benefit changes can only happen during the open enrollment period in April-May.
• Coaching stipends are now paid as earned instead of distributed throughout the year, which will impact your month to month pay amount.

As a reminder, any staff who submit their retirement or resignation letter for the 2027-28 school year by Thursday Nov. 5th will be eligible for the retirement and resignation incentive of $500.

1. Forms are Complete: There are 3 of you who I have communicated with today as I wait for your transcripts, but for all other staff you will see your advancement confirmed on your form. If you feel there is an error, please let me know by Monday at the end of the day.

2. Course Approval: As a reminder, you MUST seek approval for your courses before enrolling. I have received about 20 transcripts that came in without a form and without communication from the teacher. It is challenging for me to develop a process to ensure that no one is missed when you have not submitted your courses for approval. Sharing your form with me and getting approval ensures that I mark your form as one to monitor for advancement.

3. Post-Master's Approval #5: As you look for additional opportunities to advance, I have had a few people who went out on their own, took courses assuming that they would fit reason #5 and submitted those. I want to clarify that #5 is when the District or Building has identified a training or course that is either required or strongly suggested and then offered those credits to count for advancement. This should be led by the District or Building not be individual teachers. Before you assume that it will meet that goal be sure to reach out to me for approval to ensure that the credits will count.

4. LETRS Training: For the staff who took LETRS training through a variety of sources last year and earned credit, those past courses will not count for advancement. I have talked to others and we WILL allow future credits to count, but there are a variety of steps that have to be followed to ensure that they will meet the requirements for being highly qualified and to ensure that the staff was not paid a stipend for these trainings. If you are interested in taking LETRS training for advancement in 26-27, watch for updates from me to ensure that your course will qualify prior to enrolling.

5. Count Credits after MA+00: There were a few people this year who took classes while still working on their Master's and assumed that it would move them to MA+09 after they earned their Master's degree. It is critical to remember that not all credits that are taken while still earning your Master's degree will count towards Post-Master's advancement. I would recommend holding off on adding additional endorsements until after your first Master's is complete if you hope to advance.

6. Resources: There is a tab on the Staff Help Center page that has information regarding professional advancement and a step-by-step chart, as well as clarification. Please review that, and if you have questions, reach out before you proceed.

- When do transcripts need to be received: By Sept 1

- Where do I send them: To Dr. Melissa Herrmann

- Do I need preapproval: Yes, especially for post-Master's programs to ensure they will qualify

- How do I know if credits will meet the 5th requirement of "District or Building Goals": I will communicate out when/if credits have been approved for advancement.

DO NOT TAKE CLASSES ASSUMING THEY WILL COUNT! UPDATE YOUR FORM WITH THE COURSES THAT YOU ANTICIPATE TAKING, SEND ME AN EMAIL NOTIFYING ME THAT YOU HAVE ADDED COURSEWORK. I WILL LET YOU KNOW IF THEY ARE APPROVED FOR ADVANCEMENT OR NOT.

I have made an adjustment to the internal transfer process for the 2026-27 school year based on feedback from teachers.

If you are interested in transfering positions to a new position, grade level or building, please follow these steps:

1. Locate the Internal Transfer Request Google form (linked here and on the Staff Help Center)

2. Complete the form including your areas of interest

3. Provide your reason for wanting to move and your desired timeline for transition

• This could be many reasons such as "If a 2nd grade position at Northeast ever opens up I would love to be in that building." or "I would love to return to 5th grade if there is an opening this year." It could also say, "I don't align with the leadership style of my current principal and would like an opportunity to work under a different leader." or "I would love to get outside of my comfort zone and use my "SPED endorsement if there are any openings." or "I would be open to any options and principals should feel free to reach out to me to discuss any opportunity."

4. Staff who are interested in transferring positions should have their name on the list prior to February 1st .

A few important things to note:

• Having your name on the list does not guarentee you a transfer. It notifies principals of your interest and they will choose to reach out to you or not.
• You can wait until an opening happens, but that might be too late. We move very quickly in the hiring process, and often our principals know who they want in the pool and have had conversations prior to the opening. If you wait for a vacancy notice to be published, that might not happen. It isn't uncommon for a principal to notify me "I have a vacancy and here is who I want to hire." In the same conversation. Having your name on the list gives them advance notice of your interest so that you can be considered with other candidates.

Why the Change?

Multiple people voiced their frustration and concerns last year that the process was not fair and equitable. They didn't always know about a position that was open before it was filled and they didn't feel that they were being fairly considered with other applicants and that some staff member. In the previous process, staff had to complete an online application that was shared with me, but this prevented the principals of knowing that they were interested. Some staff indicated that they were waiting for the official posting before applying. To prevent these perceived inequities, ensure that all principals are aware of your interest and allow internal staff to be considered on the same timeline as external staff, this process is the cleanest and most transparent. I hope that it allows people to indicate their interest earlier in the process.

- That your building assignment is correct. If you have moved, this may need to be updated.

- That you have a supervisor listed. If you have moved positions, this may need to be updated.

- That you are assigned the correct process (Probationary/Permanent Year). IF your process was incorrect last year, it most likely advanced you incorrectly this year.

Once you have completed any tasks in your process, it can't be changed, so it is critcal to check for issues BEFORE completing tasks. Any issues can be reported on the link above and changes will be made by District Office staff. ASAP.

UPDATE: In order to meet the state required behavior training your building principal may have you watch videos as a group, you may participate in the Handle With Care training or you may be assigned videos in vector. Each building is different so check with your principal to determine if you should look for those videos to be assigned in the Vector platform.

You can access the Vector Trainings at THIS LINK. You have until October to complete your trainings. Some of your buildings will be doing in person behavior training and some of your principals are going to assign the training in Vector. Be sure you check with your principal on expectations to meet that requirement.

- When entering leave for Parent Teacher conferences, you should include the time during conferences in your request. By doing that you will still earn the conference comp days. Making up that time is not possible and any time missed during conferences should be entered as PTO with the exception of teachers attending their own children's conferences. Staff can make arrangements with their principal and use discretionary leave.

- Remember that the 5% calendar is NOT live. We try to update it as frequently as possible, but if a day is orange and one absence kicks it over the limit you will get the message that leave has been restricted.

- If you have an urgent situation on a day that is 5%, talk with your principal and they may approve emergency situations.

As we start the year, and you have volunteers in your classroom, it is important that we follow appropriate approval processes. See your building principals or secretaries when/if you will have volunteers, interns or other helpers in your room.

For Head coaches, your volunteer coaches MUST have background checks completed and approved before they can start with students.