5 HR Trends Schools Should Watch This Back-to-School Season

Quick look: Each new school year comes with a new checklist of responsibilities. For charter schools, back-to-school season presents the perfect opportunity to refine their human resources and employee operations. In this blog, explore the HR trends that charter schools are adopting to empower their dedicated staff.

Back-to-school season is here again! While students organize their backpacks and supplies, charter schools are reviewing their approach to human resource responsibilities. Keep reading to sharpen your awareness of the HR trends impacting charter schools and how professional employer organizations (PEOs) like ExtensisHR help schools’ employee operations get on track for the new year.

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Focusing on DEI

A well-rounded education enables students to grow their knowledge by engaging with different subjects and ideologies. A school staff functions similarly, strengthening their work environment and collaborations with varied perspectives and experiences. Investing in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) allows charter schools to achieve this type of faculty.

This school year, several DEI strategies are emerging as key areas of focus. DEI training programs are equipping school employees with the tools to recognize and mitigate workplace bias. Encouraging employee feedback welcomes multiple voices into decision-making processes. More schools are also creating mentorship programs and employee resource groups (ERGs) to support career and personal development among different communities in the workplace.

How a PEO helps: Your PEO partner can help assess your school’s current DEI landscape. Using industry insights and aligning with your specific goals, a PEO can develop a tailored action plan that introduces and improves DEI practices for faculty and staff members. Charter schools working with ExtensisHR also gain access to its DEI Dashboard. It features real-time data identifying a school’s workforce race and gender demographics, as well as trends across pay equity, employee turnover, promotions, and more.

Refreshing learning and development strategies

Students aren’t the only ones ready to gain new knowledge this school year. Educators and administrators rely on learning and development to advance their career skills and opportunities. Learning and development plans even encourage workforce retention, with 76% of employees feeling more inclined to stay with their employer if it offers continuous learning and development.

Charter school leaders are engaging in this HR trend by refreshing their staff’s training programs. A good first step is identifying mandatory learning requirements. For instance, annual workplace harassment training is essential for teaching employees how to recognize, prevent, and report unfair and disruptive treatment while at work. Some educators must also complete specialized safety or certification courses to maintain their roles.

Once the mandatory training is established, charter schools can then determine which additional learning and development opportunities to offer their employees. Training related to new hire onboarding, leadership, and technical skills are invaluable for aligning staff with school values and employment expectations.

How a PEO helps: Charter schools collaborate with their PEO to revamp their current learning and development strategies based on workforce goals. Schools working with ExtensisHR achieve more training opportunities with its SchoolCloud™ solution. Thanks to our partnership with Vector Solutions, schools gain access to over 200 training modules exploring K-12 topics like classroom management and safety and security.

Upgrading employee benefits

Educators exert a lot of energy and patience while running their classrooms. To help prevent teacher burnout and safeguard staff well-being, charter schools provide employee benefits. However, teachers’ expectations of employer-offered benefits have evolved beyond primary healthcare.

Ancillary benefits deliver a range of supplementary coverage options tailored to the needs of charter school employees. Advanced life insurance, disability insurance, accident insurance, and hospital indemnity insurance support employees during prolonged or unexpected health events.

Ancillary benefits also exist for personal life changes. For example, ExtensisHR partners with Pumpspotting, whose parental assistance app helps working mothers and their partners navigate their newborn’s feeding journey. Setting up tuition reimbursement is an additional benefit that lifts employees’ financial wellness.

Benefits that reflect wellness needs also encourage retention rates and talent acquisition, with 87% of employees considering health and wellness offerings when choosing an employer.

How a PEO helps: Schools can take advantage of their PEO’s comprehensive employee benefits packages, backed by industry leading healthcare and insurance networks. In addition to managing benefits administration, a PEO also gives planning assistance for school-provided perks like tuition assistance and customized wellness programs.

Creating remote work policies

Education exists beyond traditional classroom settings. Post-pandemic, 28% of school systems are planning to adopt more supplemental online courses for their students. Charter schools are following suit, proactively incorporating online learning into their curriculum. The rise of virtual classrooms due to eLearning also gives teachers the unique opportunity to work remotely and provides flexibility during snow days or school closures—ensuring education continues uninterrupted.

Charter schools aid their virtual educators by establishing thorough remote work policies. These guidelines define essential standards remote workers should meet, such as time availability, dress codes, behavior management, and communication workflows. Policies also outline compliance and security protocols for all the equipment, software, and other tech tools used for the class.

How a PEO helps: PEO professionals review your school’s current policies and assist in integrating new or updated provisions that that ensure virtual classrooms deliver productive and ethical learning experiences for students and staff members.

Keeping up with labor laws

To say the education industry is heavily regulated would be an understatement. The U.S. Department of Labor, the Department of Education, and other federal associations continually enforce multiple mandates to ensure schools promote safety, accountability, and efficiency.

This back-to-school season, there are many legal employment updates that charter schools must act on. Title IX’s new final rule is a critical update that strengthens a school’s capacity to prevent, address, and incidents of sexual harassment and discrimination. The latest regulatory I-9 forms enable charter schools to enhance how they verify and store their faculty’s employment information. The Fair Labor Standards Act’s recent overtime pay rules, which include new salary thresholds and annual compensation requirements, now apply to non-instructive staff in schools.

How a PEO helps: A PEO’s compliance experts stay up-to-date with education-based regulations. Leveraging that expertise, they thoroughly review a charter school’s current operations and rules to ensure they adhere to the guidelines enforced by federal, state, and local guidelines.

Start your school year right with ExtensisHR

Charter school executives, teachers, and administrators deserve a break from those infamous first-day-of-school nerves. ExtensisHR is here to help! We deliver HR support for schools by offering a tailored, comprehensive PEO solution that addresses schools’ unique employee operations and industry expectations.

By partnering with ExtensisHR, your school receives:

• Competitive employee benefits, including health, dental, vision, and additional coverage to support their employees’ wellness needs
• A dedicated support team including a School Account Manager, an HR Manager, Payroll Specialist, and an Implementation Manager
• Human-first customer service from our Employee Solution Center, which boasts a 10-second response time for initial inquiries
• Access to SchoolCloud™ solution’s exclusive suite of services, including school-centric learning and development training opportunities
• Compliance expertise to ensure your school and staff operations abide by federal, state, and local regulations
• HR guidance and consultations to help you evaluate and update policies as needed

ExtensisHR makes it simple for your school to stay ahead of today’s HR trends. While we take on your HR administration burdens and complexities, you get to focus on what matters most: building a brighter future for your students.

Contact our team today to learn how ExtensisHR’s innovative HR services and tools can amplify your school’s success.