Upon the administration’s recommendation, a total of 29 new staffing units will be added across nine district departments for the next school year, per documentation from the meeting’s agenda packet.
Maria DiPetta, KISD's media relations and multimedia manger, confirmed via email that these 29 staffing units equal 29 new individual hires.
Brian Schuss, KISD's chief human resources officer, said in a presentation to the board that this will be an approximately $1.5 million expenditure and many of the new positions are technology based. Schuss noted last year’s board-approved department staffing request was 56 staffing units, which was a $2.5 million cost.
“This year we were very conservative when it came to our staffing department editions,” Schuss said and thanked the departments for keeping their requests to a minimum.
The new 29 department staffing units are in addition to the the request for 605 new campus staff approved by the board in March.
To prepare for the staffing needs of the 2020-21 school year, KISD held a virtual job fair May 6-8, per an April 28 press release. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the district will conduct applications and interviews virtually. The release stated KISD needs to fill about 230 positions.
These staffing needs are based on an expected year-over-year student growth of 5.1%, or 4,244 students, for the 2020-21 school year, Schuss said in March. KISD Chief Financial Officer Christopher J. Smith said in a budget presentation to the board at the May 26 meeting that the district is working with its demographer to re-evaluate the coronavirus pandemic’s effect on future enrollment.
