The School Business Official S Role in HR

The Business Official’s Role in HR

by Bob Zeglarski

Years ago, Abbott Districts were required to implement position control, a strategy that helps Human Resources (HR) professionals manage their staffing needs by determining basic information such as how many positions are in the district, which positions are open, who is on leave, and when those employees are expected to return. Through the accountability regulations, the concept of position control is now required for all New Jersey school districts.

The new mandates for position control and separation of duties between personnel and payroll require that a few issues be ironed out so that business administrators (BAs) and superintendents do not get into loggerheads over how to comply. In many cases there is neither anyone in the district available to take on the additional responsibilities of implementing these mandates nor are there resources to do so.

The Changing HR Function

School districts typically have a mixed bag of HR capabilities and individuals responsible for the HR function. Also, it is often the most overlooked component of the business services operation; it may function under business services but on the organizational chart, it falls under the superintendent. A business administrator’s priority is personnel and benefits management for budget purposes, while the director of personnel and superintendent strive to recruit and hire the best candidates. Both priorities carry equal weight but in many districts it is difficult to hire the ideal candidate within budget constraints.

Moreover, many BA’s have little HR experience and knowledge and those who do may be unable to convince their superintendent that the role of HR needs to expand in order to meet the new mandates. The major reason for this is the blurred line between payroll and HR.

But it is really all about HR, isn’t it? It is similar to the impact PC’s had when they exploded on the education scene. Districts had to find a way to create technology departments from scratch. Now that salaries and benefits make up 80% to 90% of most school budgets and we are governed by new accountability regulations, districts should begin to do the same for HR. I am not talking about a full-fledged department of three or four people (or more), but districts do need to address the HR issue to comply with accountability regulations when it comes to position control and separation of duties between payroll and HR.

The IRS 403b plan initiative is an example of the leadership role school business officials can and must take in HR. ASBO and business officials nationwide took the lead with HR professionals in the shadows (not on an individual basis but on an association basis). In most cases the BA had no choice but to take on the responsibility of administering the program due to a lack of HR staff in the district.

Based on 22 years of experience as a school business administrator, I believe we need to pose questions about HR to put it in proper perspective to determine how it can be used to the best advantage of the district.

What is School District Human Resources?

The school district HR function is as varied as the districts in New Jersey. In my experience, HR may be as basic as the superintendent’s secretary keeping track of active and inactive employees on a large Rolodex with the superintendent heading up recruiting and hiring. Or, an assistant superintendent of personnel or director of personnel may take the same approach.

One situation has an HR director also leading technology. That director has successfully used technology to administer the HR function in close cooperation with the superintendent and school business official. That may be an ideal situation, but it is hard to find that exceptional, experienced professional, and a district with the financial resources to implement a sophisticated HR program.

The HR needs of school districts have grown over the years. There was a time when superintendents had time to recruit and set the salaries of teachers and other certificated staff in addition to managing curriculum issues. The finances (including payroll), maintenance/ custodial workers, bus drivers, and secretaries were the responsibility of the business administrator/board secretary. Within that model, payroll handled everything else, including setting up new employees in the payroll system (in-house or third party,) and benefits and pension administration. The payroll clerk answered questions regarding salary or benefits. As staff grew larger, more office personnel were added including an HR clerk or director with a secretary. But the focus remained staffing.

Is HR the responsibility of the Superintendent or the Business Administrator?

Hiring is the superintendent’s responsibility, but new hires are quickly turned over to the business office.

The candidate is interviewed and vetted for appropriate certification, experience and knowledge. The superintendent may be fortunate enough to have a director of HR or personnel to assist in this process in the case of certificated staff. The business administrator usually assists the superintendent when it comes to most non-certificated staff, except for secretaries. Once the superintendent recommends an individual for employment, he/she includes that candidate on the next personal report for board of education approval. Usually payroll sets the person up in the business office software system and handles all compensation issues from there. The business office is also responsible for personnel budgeting, tracking payroll liability, benefits cost, and 403b plans.

The accountability regulations add position control to the list of responsibilities. This gray area between the superintendent’s responsibilities and those of the BA needs to be worked out in order to avoid the “not my job” syndrome when tough personnel issues arise.

How does a small or even large district separate HR from payroll? Can it be done?

The accountability regulations require a separation of HR and payroll and the implementation of position control. It makes sense in order to eliminate the opportunity for fraud. In a large district with a HR department it would be possible if HR can set a new hire up in the HR/payroll software and relieve payroll of the setup responsibility. However, because HR is already overwhelmed with work, resistance is likely there.

In a smaller district there is no HR department and the superintendent’s secretary is not going be able to take on the task of setting people up in the HR/payroll system and implementing position control.

The answer lies in technology. The regulations mandate, “The position control roster shall share a common database and be integrated with the district’s payroll system.” This implies that a district owns a fully integrated software system with an HR module including position control. Most districts have budgetary/accounting systems, some districts do in-house payroll so payroll integrates with budget and accounting but others do not have the HR module. The easy part is to purchase the HR module and populate it (It can be uploaded from the fall report.)

The hard part is working out the new procedures, which define the work done by HR verses payroll. Payroll is not going to want HR inadvertently messing up the payroll information and HR should be sure that what they put into the system is not changed by payroll without proper authorization. Standard operating procedures need to be established.

The bottom line is that when it comes to personnel, districts need to become more HR-centric rather than payroll-centric. Payroll seems to do most of the personnel work because school districts evolved that way. But the new regulations require a change in focus to HR, where HR initiates the process and payroll follows HR’s directions.

In addition to the increased use of technology, school districts may have to shift someone from payroll to HR if possible. Small districts that do not have someone available to shift from payroll to HR must rely on a very sophisticated system which automates payroll to the point where the payroll person moves to an HR function.

Why do districts out-source payroll?

It started years ago before the advent of sophisticated financial software packages. Banks paid payroll services as a way to encourage schools to bank with them. This service was paid for from compensating balances, but that’s not the case anymore. Many school districts are experiencing payroll service sticker shock now that most banks will no longer fund these services because it is not profitable.

An Opportunity for BAs

No one talks about this subject at any of the ASBO events that I have attended. The HR Administrators Association connected to New Jersey School Boards Association (NJSBA) is usually very quiet. Superintendents are overburdened with other issues. Using the resources at their disposal, New Jersey’s school business officials have an opportunity to frame the discussion and take steps to both meet the new mandates and take a more effective approach to HR.

Bob Zeglarski can be reached at or 908-868-2798.