В школьном округе Рентон зафиксирован рост числа срочных увольнений и отпусков на фоне сокращения найма

Late resignations, leave requests up in Renton School District Published 3:55 pm Monday, August 31, 2026 Last week, as Renton School District began its new academic year, school officials took a look back at staffing trends from the previous year. What they saw: More staff are leaving last minute, more leave requests are being processed and the district is hiring fewer people. At the Aug. 26 Renton School Board meeting, Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources Sheila Redick presented a report on the Human Resources (HR) operational data in an update to the school board. Redick said the data showed a higher number in 2026 of employees resigning or requesting to be released from their contracts just weeks before school, when compared to previous years. Many of the staff members who had left last minute had resigned because they had gotten jobs in other school districts, Redick said, so late hiring in other districts’ HR departments could be a possible contributor to the uptick in late registrations. Another spike was in the number of leave requests that have been processed. HR has processed 331 staff leave requests this past school year, jumping from the previous year’s 262 requests. These are the highest number the district has seen in the past five years. Redick said one reason for the uptick in leave requests could be more widespread awareness of Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML), a state-run program that has existed since 2020 which allows Washington workers up to 12 weeks of paid family or medical leave. School year 2025-2026 also saw the lowest hiring rate of the past five years, dipping from an average of 446 hirings per year to a low of 389. Redick attributed this dip to position reductions and a tight labor market. Redick reported successes as well. All school leadership positions and 95% of classroom teacher positions are filled going into this school year, and three of five administrator hires were promoted from within the district. To view the full materials from the annual update, visit go.boarddocs.com/wa/rpswa/Board.nsf/pfiles/DX6Q8S681C0B/$file/HR%20Update%20August%202026%20ADA.pdf.