Miami Dade County Public Schools Personnel System And Benefits Used Effective Cost Containment Practices In Managing The Workers Compensation Program

The Miami-Dade County Public Schools Personnel System and Benefits function has strong leadership and in recent years has improved many personnel practices. Additional improvement is possible, however in the areas of recruitment, workforce stability, customer service, use of data in planning and evaluation, communications, substitute hiring and deployment, managing employee misconduct investigations, records management and use of technology.The Miami Dade County Public Schools (MDCPS or the District) Personnel System and Benefits has several practices in place that contribute to improved efficiency and effectiveness in service delivery. The District uses technology to assist in recruitment, staffing and professional development. Its professional development program for instructional and non-instructional staff is comprehensive and provides continued professional growth. The leadership development program for school administrators includes an assessment of potential leadership capabilities and a competency based curriculum. Instructional staff is evaluated using the Procedures for Observation, Assessment and Evaluation of Instructional Personnel (PACES). PACES supports improved instruction through the use of a professional support team, colleague teachers and mentors. MDCPS supports teachers in obtaining National Board for Professional Teaching Standards Certification. The District ranks number one in the state and fourth in the country for National Board Certified teachers. The Office of Professional Standards supports the District in managing poorly performing employees and employee discipline matters. The District has used effective cost containment practices in managing the workers’ compensation program. The District’s claims experience in managing workers’ compensation has improved, reducing workers’ compensation costs from an average cost per claim of $1,600 in 1998 to an average cost per claim of $1,400 in 2001.While there is improved effectiveness and efficiency in service delivery in the personnel and benefits function, someimprovements are warranted. Existing recruitment practices are unlikely to be adequate to meet the District’s needsas competition for staff increases. A more systematic and targeted approach to recruitment and retention ofqualified staff is needed to ensure that vacancies are filled in hard to fill locations and critical shortage areas. TheDistrict needs to establish performance measures and targets to measure recruiting progress and assess the efficiencyand effectiveness of the recruitment program. A more systematic approach to evaluate positions to support effectivesalary administration is needed. Improved communication with job applicants would strengthen the hiring process.The District has not developed a systematic approach to assess factors that contribute to workforce instability andhas not taken proactive steps to address these factors. A performance/skills based compensation system to recognizeand reward high levels of performance would support improved workforce stability. The District needs todiscontinue use of early retirement incentives that are costly and negatively impact workforce stability. Although the District’s overall approach to staff development is sound, the program would benefit from a more systematic approach in the development and evaluation of program offerings for non-instructional staff to ensure that these offerings adequately reflect the district’s overall needs. Use of disaggregated data on student performance to ensure that staff development program offerings for instructional staff focus on priority needs would strengthen the District’s staff development program. The DATA Center should be discontinued due to its limited district-wide impact and the high cost of the program.The District’s staff development program for school-based administrators is sound, yet procedures for soliciting andreceiving feedback on administrator performance by stakeholders should be strengthened.Personnel Systems and BenefitsThe linkage between performance and compensation for outstanding performance needs to be strengthened toprovide needed financial incentives for improving student performance.The process for investigating employee misconduct needs to be strengthened by establishing standards andperformance measures for investigators to improve timeliness and quality of investigative reports. The Districtwould benefit from the development and implementation of a strategic plan for communication to provide asystematic process to solicit and receive feedback and input.The hiring and deployment of substitute teachers is neither efficient nor effective. The District needs to develop andimplement a strategic plan to improve recruitment and compensation for substitute teachers. The District wouldbenefit from the use of an automated substitute management system to improve the deployment of substitutes.The District’s Records Management System lacks an adequate and effective records management process andrecords retention schedule. The district needs to aggressively develop, implement and support a quality on-goingrecords management program in compliance with state and federal records retention requirements to includeimproved use of technology.The District needs to develop clear policies and procedures for early return to work to strengthen its workers’compensation cost containment efforts.The Department of Personnel Management and Services needs to develop and implement a strategic plan thatincludes specific performance standards and measures to assess program performance, efficiency, and effectiveness.A review of the organizational structure and staffing levels of personnel management services using clearly definedcriteria should be conducted each year to assess organizational effectiveness. A systematic process to solicitfeedback from clients/customers should be established to guide improvements in service delivery and personnelpractices. The District needs to comply with the requirement that direct deposit be mandatory for all school district employees.Finally, ensuring that an attorney supports the contract negotiation process, clarification of the role of the Chiefnegotiator, and using interest-based negotiations and decision-making to improve communication can strengthen theDistrict’s collective bargaining process.