Gord Husband, superintendent of human resources for the South East Cornerstone Public School Division provided board members with an update on his department when they gathered in Weyburn on Nov. 17 for a general business session.
Husband provided the report to newly installed members that included Shari Sutter, who joins Pam Currie as Estevan’s representatives on the board. Other newcomers were Jim Henderson representing Subdivision 3 and Melanie Sorenson representing the City of Weyburn along with incumbent Warren Betker.
Husband noted that human resources serves two distinct roles, one being the actual human resources element as well as payroll within the division’s $111 million budget.
He said there are eight employees dedicated to this sector that involves over 520 full time equivalent teaching positions and includes 421 classroom educators and others such as the 17 to 18 who provide educational support services. He noted there are also 147 full time educational assistant positions within the division that has about 8,200 registered students in 38 schools plus online services. There are 21 library technician positions filled in the division along with 124 school bus drivers and maintenance personnel, not including those who are employees of a business that provides a contracted bus service in some regions.
“In total we have about 1,150 employees plus about another 400 substitute teachers and casual employees,” Husband said.
The drivers’ education program, which is another contracted service, costs about $500,000 to operate annually, he said, and that also comes under the jurisdiction of human resources budgets.
Husband said union contracts with CUPE and SEIU member employees had expired at the end of August of this year.
Husband said the risk management and recruitment files require some specialized skills since they are people charged with the task of finding mid-year replacements for teachers or others who are needing to be absent for a specific amount of time, such as maternity leaves or health-related issues. Filling contracts for some specialized programs and courses can also present unique challenges, he added.
“We have been more successful lately in filling trades teaching positions, ever since the big oilpatch contracts are gone now,” he said.
Husband also said that handling grievances is also a part of his department’s mandate and with just a few exceptions, they have managed to resolve the pending issues before they got to the stage where they would have to be brought to the boardroom table. He also noted the Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation regulatory board, with a new mandate, is working on smoothing out their details when it comes to disciplinary hearings associated with teacher performance or behaviour.
Board chairwoman Audrey Trombley, said they have held trustee discussions on this matter and some of the problematic legislation that surrounds it, since some investigations regarding teacher discipline has been going on without the knowledge of the school division’s board that is affected by the process.
“It’s difficult to defend a teacher based on rumours and external accusations,” she said.
“There have been significant challenges with the investigation process,” added Husband.
“We have dealt with our issues and kept matters at a division level but it’s realistic to understand that won’t always be the case, but we are being pro-active on those matters.”
Husband also said employees have found some efficiencies in the tracking and payroll systems by using a certain type of software that helps with payroll management.
“It seems we are well ahead of most other school divisions using this software, we are finding more uses for it such as duty to accommodate employees who are returning to work and managing short and long-term absences,” Husband said.
The human resources superintendent added they are able to monitor sick leaves and the department is also managing community based masters programs for a group of 18 educators who are moving into leadership roles or are aspiring to fill leadership roles in the future. “It’s good for recruitment for education administration jobs,” Husband said.
The new software also helps the department keep track of applications for employment, retraining and tracking seniority status within the public school division.
