McAllen ISD HR review recommends improvement, department head resigns
Todd Miller. Photo Courtesy of McAllen ISD.
A Texas Association of School Boards human resources operations review conducted late last year found areas for improvement for McAllen ISD’s HR department, which will no longer be helmed by former assistant superintendent Todd Miller.
Miller resigned on February 23, according to the district. District spokesperson Mark May did not describe his resignation being related to the human resources review, saying via email that Miller “left in good standing and we deeply appreciate his service to McAllen ISD.”
“According to his resignation letter, Mr. Miller cited the opportunity to spend more time with his family,” May wrote.
Miller was one of two remaining top administrators at the district from the reign of former superintendent J.A. Gonzalez.
A scandal in Gonzalez’s communications department prompted school board directives aimed at corrective action last year.
The board launched the human resources review — likely the most significant board action that resulted from the directives — in September despite the fact that Gonzalez had already departed from the school district.
TASB staff appear to have completed the review in November.
For some reason, however, the school board has never discussed the review’s findings much in public and the document appears to have lingered in draft form for some months.
According to the district, the board is expected to discuss the review soon.
The Progress Times received an unredacted PDF of the review from the district this week.
McAllen ISD charged the Progress Times $1.25 for the 31-page document, plus a $1 “convenience fee.”
The review does not contain the sort of salacious detail school districts often dig up with a forensic audit or some similar accountability tool.
It’s relatively bland.
On the whole, the review tends to indicate HR practices the district can put in place to make “significant gains in efficiency and effectiveness” fairly easily.
In broad strokes, the review recommends the district redefine organizational structure, staffing levels and reassign responsibilities, provide a “safe and secure” office space for HR staff, and delineate duties between HR and payroll as an efficiency measure. Among other recommendations, the review advises the district handle grievances more efficiently, communicate better with employees about pay and benefits, and implement an “inclusive, multi-faceted employee recognition program.”
TASB thinks the district can make those changes relatively easily.
The review indicates the district may have more trouble with other recommended changes related to training, including HR communication, substitute procedures, departmental atomization and providing general staff development opportunities.
