Event Phone: 608-822-3276

HR Consistency, Compliance, and Culture
A Professional Development Opportunity for District Leadership Teams

Date February 3
Time 9:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. Lunch provided
Location CESA 3, 1300 Industrial Drive, Conference Room C/D

Teams are encouraged to bring district handbooks

Who Should Attend
This event is intentionally designed for district leadership teams rather than individual participants. Districts are encouraged to attend with a coordinated team that may include superintendents or district administrators who are responsible for final personnel decisions, board communication, negotiations, and overall legal exposure. Teams can include:

• District Administrators and Principals are encouraged to attend because they implement HR decisions daily through supervision, evaluation, improvement plans, onboarding, and culture building.
• Business managers or Office Professionals should attend due to their role in compensation structures, benefits, leave costs, and the fiscal sustainability of HR decisions that must align with handbook language.
• HR Coordinators or Personnel Leads should attend as they oversee recruitment, documentation, compliance, leave tracking, and alignment between policy and practice. When these roles are not aligned, districts assume unnecessary risk. This session is structured to address that challenge directly.

Why This Matters Now

• Over the past several years, educator shortages and increased competition have required districts to make individualized staffing decisions in order to fill vacancies.
• In many cases, compensation, benefits, or working conditions have been offered outside of established handbook language.
• While often necessary, these decisions can create inconsistencies across employees, internal equity concerns, cultural and morale challenges, and legal exposure when practice no longer aligns with policy.
• This session provides districts an opportunity to pause, recalibrate, and proactively realign their HR systems.

What Teams Should Expect

• By the end of the session, leadership teams should expect greater clarity around what should be consistently included in district HR practices and a shared understanding of recruitment, retention, management, and improvement.
• Teams will strengthen their ability to distinguish between legal requirements, best practices, and areas that should be formally addressed in handbooks versus handled administratively.
• Participants will compare current legal expectations and guidance with existing handbooks, board approved policies, and day to day practices.
• Teams are strongly encouraged to bring their district handbooks for direct reference throughout the session.

Key Areas of Focus

The session will address the core areas where districts should have clarity and consistency, including:

• Recruitment strategies and onboarding practices
• Compensation and benefit considerations
• Employee supervision
• Evaluation and improvement
• Leave management and documentation
• Stay interviews and exit interviews
• Indicators of morale and culture

Research on organizational culture and morale will be connected to practical HR systems that can be embedded from hiring through separation.

Legal Emphasis
The majority of the day will focus on the most common and high risk HR issues school leaders face. Participants will review legal requirements, common compliance gaps, and areas where district practices often drift from handbook language. This approach allows teams to engage in proactive discussion grounded in current legal guidance rather than reacting to issues after they arise.

Facilitation
The session will be introduced by Jamie Nutter, CESA 3 Agency Administrator. The majority of the day will be led by Attorney Brian Goodman, who will provide legal context, compliance strategies, and practical guidance specific to school district HR challenges.

Cost
The cost is $265 per team. The break even point is fifteen teams. If additional teams register, the cost will be prorated.

Bottom Line
This session is designed to ensure district leadership teams are aligned, legally informed, consistent in practice, and proactive in their approach to human resources. It creates space for the right conversations to occur before staffing shortages, complaints, or compliance concerns force those conversations under pressure.