Plum School District officials plan to offer more personnel information prior to school board meetings.

Since October 2017, names of potential hires and their positions, as well as resignations, retirements, salaries and other related information, were routinely hidden from the public until after the board voted on them.

The personnel agenda, with all the aforementioned information, would be posted to the district website shortly afterward.

This was common practice, aside from a handful of meetings like in February 2020 when positions and salaries were listed on a “pre-vote personnel agenda.”

Several school board members over the years said this was done to help protect a person seeking employment with Plum while working elsewhere, district liability or to prevent any potential embarrassment should a vote not go in the candidate’s favor.

However, it also limited people’s knowledge heading into board meetings, making it difficult for people to comment on agenda items during the public comment portion of meetings.

Board member Michelle Stepnick abstained from voting on personnel moves at many meetings as a result.

That changed last month, when the district once again went back to posting positions and salaries, but not names, on its action meeting agenda.

It appears this might be the practice moving forward, as the personnel moves passed via 8-0 vote, with Scott Kolar absent.

“This was a compromise,” Stepnick said. “My stance is names and salaries and positions need to be made public before (a vote). I feel like we still have work to do on transparency, but we are heading in a positive direction.

“For everything in life, there’s always room for improvement. … At the end of the day, if we don’t have a good hire, then what are we doing putting the name on our agenda to begin with.”

Board President Mike Devine said the district is very open with its residents as well as respectful to potential employees.

“We want to put as much out there as we can while protecting those individuals seeking employment in Plum,” Devine said. “Everyone sees how their tax dollars are being spent. The district is very transparent in everything (we) do. I think it’s more of an issue of where to look. The information is out there.”

He called the appearance of hiding potential staffing information a “misunderstanding” and encouraged residents to let their voices be heard on all district actions.

School board meetings, including workshops, are well-documented with agendas and related materials posted on the district’s website, pbsd.net.

People can find current and previous school year agendas and meeting minutes and videos of school board sessions via the “District” tab of the website’s main page.

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