Oconto Falls School Board urged to hire HR director

An Oconto Falls School Board member and a former employee are encouraging the board to consider hiring a human resources director to address lingering questions about the corporate culture in the school district.

Chad Earley, who briefly stepped away from his role as board member to address the board during the “citizen participation” portion of the Feb. 13 meeting, said “a lot” of school district staff members feel they can’t make complaints to the administration “because they figure they’re going to have a target on their back.”

Earley said, speaking “as a community-member-slash-board-member,” he thinks the board should consider hiring an HR director to make staff feel more comfortable.

Kelly Berkovitz, who was payroll/benefits coordinator for school district until November, spoke at the board’s January and February meetings about a strained relationship between the staff and administration.

At the Feb. 13 meeting, Berkovitz said the Oconto Falls School District is large enough to warrant such a position.

“I shared with you at the January meeting only some of the instances that were handled inappropriately,” she said. “I encourage each of you to personally reflect, remembering that you asked each of us taxpayers in the Oconto Falls School District to elect you. Are you upholding the expectations of these duties that they bestowed upon you? It’s time to listen. Stand aside all of the staff and make the changes to improve the workplace culture in hopes of retaining these employees, before it’s too late.”

The board did not directly address the comments made by Earley and Berkovitz, but Superintendent Dean Hess talked about concerns regarding how to improve communication between staff and administrators that were raised in a staff survey this fall, including having listening sessions and one-on-one contact.

“We’re trying to put our best foot forward in addressing the things that have been shared with us and then circling back and asking the question, ‘How’s that working for us?’” Hess said. “I’m real hopeful that this advisory team that we’re getting off the ground will be one more piece to that.”

Hess also said he was hopeful that with the “next survey, we’ll have more positive feedback to work with.”

The district plans to conduct an annual staff survey every fall, he said.