This measure was unanimously approved at a May 15 school board meeting after Chief Human Resources Officer Brian Schuss recommended filling approximately 60 positions to address growth within the district.
“We all know we're an extremely fast-grow[ing] district, and as we add students and other staff, we also need support staff in the district to continue the support that is expected in Katy ISD,” Schuss said at the meeting.
Put in perspective: Following a needs assessment completed by each district department, a list of 80 additional staff was initially proposed to human resources, Schuss said.
However, to stay within the district’s budget and maintain a “historically low administrative cost ratio,” Schuss said his team prioritized which positions would actually be funded.
“We had to look at gaining efficiencies in areas when we [were] adding positions, especially with department staff. We looked at our current vacancies, and sometimes we have vacancies in departments that have been there for quite a while,” Schuss said. “So we asked the question of those departments: Can we repurpose some of these positions, or can we absorb some of these vacancies?”
As a result, Schuss said his team was able to absorb $1 million in staff department vacancies.
A closer look: Two new positions that were created to support and sustain KISD’s literacy program are the instructional facilitator and the reading and language arts coordinator, human resources staff said at the May 15 meeting. These staff will be deployed to campuses and work side by side with teachers to deliver professional learning.
The background: The proposal for 2022-23 school year was for 37 total positions that would cost the district $1.5 million-$2 million, Schuss said at the meeting.
