Damakant Jayshi
A Wausau School Board discussion on employee turnover rates erupted into a sharp disagreement over differences in the data presented, with one board member finding significant discrepancies in the numbers offered by district officials.
Human Resources Director Tabatha Gundrum on Monday shared staff turnover data from the 2015-2016 school year to the present during the board’s Education/Operations Committee member. The presentation prompted a back-and-forth between Gundrum and board member Pat McKee, who raised questions about the data and concerns over the sharp jump in employee turnover during the most recent school year.
McKee printed off all consent agendas for school board meetings from January to the present and said the numbers do not add up to those presented by Gundrum. His data showed separations for 55 teachers in 2023, a 75% increase from the year prior. That, he said, is different from the numbers Gundrum had.
“I printed January through today…and added up the data and I’ve got some significantly different numbers than you have,” McKee said.
Gundrum, who offered multiple times to discuss the matter privately with McKee, responded by saying the numbers she presented did not include limited term staff – though the board is required to approve appointments and resignations for such contracts.
“So anything in that limited-term contract would not be in my numbers because we knew going into that contract that the contract was going to end,” Gundrum said.
McKee, former board president, continued to question Gundrum’s turnover numbers.
“There are a handful of those this year…the numbers of 2022, again in these consent agendas, were 37 total separations and for 2023, I counted 70, unless there is something incorrect about the consent agendas,” he said.
McKee also said he was most interested in learning about the “noticeable differences from 2022 to 2023 amongst a few of the schools.” He cited teacher separation numbers from Wausau East High School: “1.5 in 2022 to 14 this year.”
Gundrum replied that she would “like to look at more specifically each of those people,” but said she is “confident in the numbers that I shared in the report.”
She said her numbers came from a master HR document.
“I need we need to look at the data and see what years they fall into, that could be part of it,” Gundrum said.
“I’m sure there’s good reason for the significant difference,” McKee said.
He also asked when the results of a pulse survey taken by employees in the spring would be made available to the board and the public.
Survey results are broken down by school, Gundrum said. That data is used in principal evaluations.
Wausau Pilot & Review issued an open records request last week for the information, which Gundrum said is available but has not yet been provided.
