JCPS splits HR, legal counsel positions

Official: Change not directly related to discrimination trial against district

The human resources coordinator and legal counsel positions at Jefferson City Public Schools have been split, mainly because officials said the positions are two full-time jobs and should not be shared by one person.

The decision was not a direct outcome of the lost litigation against the district but rather reaffirmed - for several reasons - the positions shouldn't be combined, said Superintendent Larry Linthacum.

Penney Rector held both since July 2011 but will be dedicated to legal counsel starting Thursday. Ashley Woods, within the HR department, was named interim human resources coordinator. Rector received a 0.6 percent raise and currently earns $166,000. Woods was given a $10,000 raise on her base salary and now earns $73,216, said Chief Financial Officer Jason Hoffman.

Former Superintendent Brian Mitchell, named in the lawsuit, combined the HR and legal counsel positions during his tenure in 2011 during a central office rearrangement, which was the first time the two positions were sewn together, Hoffman said.

Linthacum said the internal rearrangement was not a direct outcome of the May trial involving former teacher Karen Ray, who was awarded $235,000 in damages plus attorney's fees for her gender and age discrimination litigation. Rector was called to the stand during the trial and questioned about complaints against the high school administration and investigations she'd performed within her role as the human resources director.

Rector has a legal background, which is why she was kept on as the legal counsel, Linthacum said. Prior to her work with the district, she worked as legal counsel for Missouri Council of School Administrators from 2002-11. Before that, she was an assistant attorney for the attorney general's office for the state of Missouri from 1993-2002.

He also said having one person in both roles is a conflict of interest. The human resources coordinator's role is to act on behalf of the employees, and the legal counsel position is meant to act on behalf of the district.

Overall, it was in the best interest of the district and all of its employees to split the positions, Linthacum said.

"I was a career center director when I was a head football coach about 10 years ago, and when I was laying awake at night, I was probably thinking more about my high school boys and if they were staying out of trouble and what plays to run instead of thinking about how we could get better as a career center," Linthacum said. "I use that, and I shared that with Penney. When she's laying awake at night, is she - especially during the lawsuit, that would be very challenging for any of us - (is she) thinking about that or (is she) thinking about how we can make the HR department better? And have that culture of synergy where we're all motivated and inspired and moving forward. I felt we needed someone to concentrate on that 100 percent. Was it because of the trial? No. Did it validate that I felt like we needed someone to spend 100 percent (in both roles)? Yeah."

The HR coordinator is responsible for hiring staff, helping to create clearly defined job descriptions, overseeing current employees, working through grievances, and working with retired staff on their retirement, insurance and payroll, Linthacum said.

Legal counsel advises the district on legal matters, district policies and working with department heads and administrators to effectively implement policies and change or eliminate policies if need be, he said.

The district is in the midst of re-evaluating central office job roles so the positions are clearly defined with expectations that align with the district's strategic plan. The re-evaluations are a work in progress, he said, which is part of the reason the district is holding off on hiring a permanent HR coordinator.

Once the vision for the HR department is clearly defined, the district will post the position with an anticipated hire date of March 1 and a July 1 start date. Woods can apply for the permanent position, but the the district will go through the process to hire the best candidate, he said.