Right-Sizing Our District

It has been almost a decade and a half since I talked to you about the concept of 'right sizing' our district. At the time enrollment was declining and we needed to make an immediate course correction in order to protect the financial solvency of the school district. For those of you who are newer to the district, the short story was that we were already in financial trouble and had few options. Some folks were worried about the district and wondered, would we survive or become a victim of consolidation? The fact is, that was never even a remote possibility. Truthfully and quite simply stated, we had more employees than were needed for the number of students in our classrooms. Unfortunately the only way to fix that was to cut some staff positions. It was incredibly painful but we persevered. I will always be grateful to the school board that served during that time, and for making those very hard decisions. I do believe the hard work that was done then set us up for the many successes we have had since. Because of that work more than a decade ago, not only have we survived, but now we are thriving!

It is time to begin the 'right-sizing' our district discussion anew. But now it will be a much more pleasant conversation. You see, we currently have the opposite challenge (or perhaps opportunity?). Instead of having more employees than we have for students in our classrooms, we have more students than we have employees to serve them! For the 2022-2023 school year, we will be adding a fourth section of kindergarten. With more than 80 students projected in next year's kindergarten class, it is unreasonable to have just 3 sections. We have also added another section of sixth grade and split our preschool program into two separate sections in order to expand our early childhood program capacity. As it currently stands, enrollment for next year is projected to grow by over 50. That is in addition to being up around 40 in our current year. To summarize, in two quick years we are on pace to be up almost 100 students. Take a moment to let that sink in.

Our enrollment growth is being driven by a couple of factors. First is open enrollment. Since the law changed last spring we have seen a significant uptick in the number of families choosing to open enroll in Hudson. The word is out that we have an outstanding school district with a proven track record of high academic achievement and a comprehensive co-curricular program with options and opportunities for all students. Second, enrollment is being driven by residential development. Folks have learned that Hudson is not only a great place to send your kids to school, but it is an awesome place to raise a family. The number of residential lots and developments that are available right now is just, well staggering!

As our community grows, so too will our school district. In order to take full advantage of this opportunity and maintain our reputation for excellence, we need to continue to attract and retain high powered talent for our classrooms. Luckily we have been able to do just that when filling these positions. Well, perhaps it isn't luck so much as it is a strategic hiring practice that we have in place. It begins with settling our employment contracts early. That can only happen if we present a proposal for a compensation package that is competitive and attractive. In the last couple of  years we have deliberately been more aggressive in our drive to offer wage packages [we believe] that are both competitive and tough to beat in the Cedar Valley. In so doing, we can retain our staff, get a better understanding of where vacancies exist, and enter the labor market before anyone else. 

Additionally, we are very thoughtful about hiring. While all part of the grand plan, we have to look ahead at potential retirements, courses that we may want to add to the program (or courses that are no longer relevant) and then hire to meet those needs. Being able to look into the future is critical as our enrollment increases. In some cases, we may consider 'hiring ahead' in order to get the right person into our district, knowing that while they may not have a full schedule immediately upon hire, they will in just a few short years. In the interim, we can deploy that human resource in other needed areas as we flex outward.

Frankly, all of this is possible because of the diligence in staffing and budgeting over the course of last dozen years. When basing our hiring on enrollment trends with an eye toward the future, it has also enabled us to build capital. This provides the financial backing that permits the district to make calculated hiring decisions with little risk.