The Impact of Central Staff Reclassification

Leon County Schools superintendent, Rocky Hanna, defended the increase in central staff spending at the last School Board meeting. He states that the increase in number and in spending is due to reclassification of employees. This defense is a result of a Public Records Request that Superintendent candidate, Joe Burgess, published earlier this week.

The public records request shows an increase in employees being classified as pay type 9 as well as an increase in pay to some of the Leon County School Executives.

Jared “Brett” Shively is one example. He is the lead negotiator between the Teacher’s union and Leon County Schools. During negotiations he has made statements such as “Look under some rocks” when telling teachers there is not funding.

Shively also requires clarification on the difference between Equity and Equality as well as responsibility and duty. This calls into question his qualifications as a Human Resource director. His pay began at the end of 2020 with only a total of about $6,000. During the 2020-2021 school year he made about $93,940. Since then his pay increased $24,097 for a total of $118,037 in the 2023-2024 school year.

So again what are his qualifications as a human resource officer to warrant an increase over $24,000 in only three years? His unwillingness to negotiate with the teachers in good faith and crass remarks lead us to believe that there must be other reasons for his pay.

Reclassification Of Central Staff

This brings us back to the reclassification of employees. We were recently ask by a neighbor about this and the legitimacy of this information. Their concern was that the information wasn’t completely accurate. The list that Joe Burgess requested was specifically for “pay type 9.” Pay type 9 classification receives different benefits than other pay types. This is important to recognize due to Pay type 9 typically being “better” than other pay types.

This raises questions. Who receives this change in pay type? Why do they receive a change their classification? Who determines the change in pay type?

We don’t know the intent of the superintendent’s choices and we would like to assume he has good intentions. However, the impact is higher spending on the central staff, confusion over who and how someone receives these different benefits, and public distrust.

We have many more questions than answers surrounding this. Why haven’t other administrations reclassified central staff’s pay type? What benefits were these employees making prior to their reclassification? How does this change the spending of the administration cost? If the Superintendent is working on funneling money down to teachers and support staff, why is he spending more on central staff by reclassifying them as pay type 9?

The Questions

While we don’t know all the answers to these questions, we look at the Mr. Shively who has received $24,000 in raises over the past three years. We see the hurtful impact that he leaves after every negotiation meeting. His disrespect and incompetence in a public hearing is evident and Teachers are not only leaving this school district, they are leaving the occupation all together.

We have been told that there are cuts being made to administration so that that funds can be funneled down. However, we also hear phrases like “Look under some rocks” and “we just don’t have the funds” or even “have an attitude of gratitude.” Additionally we see school executives receiving $24,000 raises in only three years. Tallahassee neighbors see the abuse the teachers are receiving. We can only assume how the other support staff is being treated as well.

The impact of the words and actions of Leon County Schools towards are teachers has resulted in the loss of our teachers irreplaceable skills. If we lose our teachers, then we lose access to public education.