To satisfy the terms of this project, this author wrote the paper assuming the persona of a retiring Director of Personnel for the East Midlands School District, a mythical California Community.
The retiree uses the occasion of the event to pass on views and opinions to her successor, many of them based on the changes in the national educational market that she has witnessed in her 31 years as director. She also feels compelled to comment, both objectively and subjectively, about the impact that Federal and State laws have on the practices of screening, selecting, placing, transferring, promoting and terminating employees.
Citing numerous references, she details the importance of more thorough screening for employees during the application process. Keeping focused on the future, she also draws several implications from the annual NEA meeting (1999) in which some 1,100 proposals were made that could have a major impact on the role of personnel director in this new century.
Of special interest is her section on termination which details some of the risks that school boards face when failing to properly inform prospective employers concerning a terminated teacher's specifics.
As personnel director of the East Midlands School District for 31 years, this author has been in a position to view many changes in the school district's hiring and firing policies during that time. Now that mandatory retirement beckons, and a new personnel director will be taking over in this new century, this author feels compelled to catalogue these changes and make comments, both objective and subjective, about the impact that Federal and State laws have on the practices of screening, selecting, placing, transferring, promoting and terminating employees.
Before creating new policies concerning the pre-employment screening process for both teachers and support staff, this author highly recommends that the new personnel director read t...