Frontline Blog

Every year, we’re thrilled to have the opportunity to share in the passion and commitment of district HR leaders at AASPA’s Annual Conference. And it’s nearly here! Four days of collaborative learning and the chance to share the latest insights and strategies in K-12 HR — what could be better?

Have you ever worked in a school with an amazingly positive, supportive culture? The type where relationships are characterized by respect, trust and transparency; where mistakes are seen as opportunities for growth; where individual successes are recognized and celebrated. If you’ve been lucky enough to work in such a place, you know that a positive school culture has a certain magic to it — you can’t see or touch it, but there’s no denying that it’s there, uplifting students and staff alike.

Field trip forms, employee reimbursements, leave requests, employee handbook acknowledgements, W4s, written reprimands, separation agreements, I9s and more… sheer volume of paperwork in a school district is mindboggling. All of that paperwork needs to go somewhere, and chances are, that “somewhere” is a filing cabinet. Actually, make that many filing cabinets.

The innovation we see in education today is absolutely amazing. Teachers are hard at work coming up with creative new ways to help their students learn, and deserve a lot of praise for the work they do.

If somebody asked about the role of HR in your district, what would you say? Would you describe what you do, or why you do it? If you wanted to say what you do, you might tell them a version of the mission statement posted on the HR page of your district website.  That probably looks something like this: The mission of the human resources department is to recruit, retain and support the most highly qualified employees.  

Are you ready to reach for the stars at AASPA’s 79th Annual Conference? We’re counting down the days until the conference begins, and we can’t wait to see everyone there! There’s so much we’re looking forward to: four days full of learning, the chance to hear about the innovation happening in HR districts across the country and meet some of the most brilliant minds in the field — not to mention the beautiful surroundings and sunny warmth of Phoenix, Arizona.  

The start of school may feel like it’s worlds away, but it will be here before you know it. But before back-to-school season comes around the corner, take a moment to reflect on not just what you do to support educators throughout the year, but why you do it.  

It's all about the people. It's all about the students.  Most likely, one of these (or both!) is why you're in Human Resources in education. While the transactional work of HR — compliance, legislation, recruiting, paperwork — often take up the day-to-day, conferences are a great way to get re-energized about the important work of HR.

In HR, we are obsessed with titles and names. This may be part of our nature since we maintain and update job descriptions, compensation systems, and org charts, but we have been playing the 'name game' for more than 40 years. HR offices were once known as "Personnel" departments before many morphed into "Human Resources" in the 1970s and 1980s. Now, a number of HR groups are changing names again.