Board renews MOU with GMLA to recruit hard-to-fill specialist positions

Superintendent Mr. Groom recommended the board approve a renewal Memorandum of Understanding with GMLA to permit the district to recruit and hire certain highly skilled, hard-to-fill positions with additional years of credited experience outside the district’s typical contract range. He said the agreement is a renewal of last year’s arrangement and is intended to help the district fill roles such as school nurses; speech-language pathologists; occupational therapists; school psychologists; teachers for visually and hearing-impaired students; intervention specialists; and behavior specialists.

Board members asked clarifying questions about which positions are covered and the renewal’s term; the superintendent confirmed the list and described the MOU as essentially the same arrangement as in the prior year. The board approved the renewal by voice/consent.

Why it matters: Recruiting and retaining specialized staff such as speech-language pathologists and school psychologists can be difficult and affects service delivery to students with identified needs. The MOU creates administrative flexibility intended to expand the candidate pool for these positions.

Next steps: Administration will proceed under the renewed MOU to recruit for the listed positions and return to the board with any hires or changes in staffing for standard public reporting and approval processes.