Heroes of HR convene at conference

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More than 350 school leaders in human resources and negotiations gathered at ACSA’s 2024 Personnel & Negotiations Symposium to hear from presenters and keynote speakers, including Carlos Villegas of F3 Law, seen here.

October 14, 2024

More than 350 school leaders came together to learn about the latest legislation and best practices impacting the world of human resources and negotiations at the 2024 Personnel & Negotiations Symposium.

This was the first year ACSA combined two separate conferences — Negotiators’ Symposium held in January and the Personnel Institute held in September — into a single four-day conference for school leaders in charge of HR and labor relations. They gathered in Burlingame to learn and connect with their peers while exploring the theme “You Can’t Spell HERO without HR.”

Sessions focused on employee investigations, leaves of absence, preparing for an impasse, recruitment, teacher pipelines and more. Attendees also heard from keynotes John Gray of School Services of California, Alex Sheen of the because I said I would nonprofit, and Carlos Villegas, partner with F3 Law.

Villegas presented a keynote speech encouraging HR professionals to stay focused on what truly matters — supporting the mission of student success. He reminded attendees that an action they take today, like hiring a new teacher, could impact the district for 40 years.

“You realize these decisions that you’re making will last in your district for generations,” Villegas said. “So with that in mind, you have to make sure that you’re pushing the distractions to the side and focusing on your long-term goals in a way that really impacts the school district communities that you serve.”

Ray Curry Award This year’s Ray Curry Award was given to Kyley Ybarra, assistant superintendent, Personnel and Leadership Development, with the Riverside Unified School District.

Ybarra has implemented a number of innovative practices that have brought talented candidates to the district. She has helped establish UCR-RUSD Pipeline, a scholarship program for prospective teachers in STEM fields. To fill critical hard-to-fill vacancies, she held several “stay until you’re hired” events for special education assistants, having her staff posted all day assisting applicants throughout every phase of the hiring process.

“People who had had trouble navigating the online platform literally left crying, so happy they were able to figure out all the steps and get hired,” said Renee Hill, superintendent of Riverside USD, who nominated Ybarra for the award.

Ybarra has tirelessly recruited diverse candidates, demonstrating that it is possible to have the staff and teachers align with the demographics of the district with highly qualified and diverse candidates.

Ybarra also revamped the volunteer clearance process, leading to a sharp increase in volunteerism. She supports local leaders learning about their community’s schools through “Leadership Riverside,” a chamber of commerce program that develops rising leaders from business and government. In addition to serving as ACSA Region 19 president (2021-22), she is currently the ACSA State HR Representative for Region 19.

Negotiator of the Year

Mike Shepherd, executive director of Human Resources in Tahoe Truckee Unified School District, was selected as this year’s Negotiator of the Year.

Shepherd was described as a collaborative problem solver who sees others as people and not obstacles. As a result, he has been able to build strong management-labor relationships. He has negotiated multi-year contracts with three districts now, building lasting relationships while negotiating sustainable compensation packages. At each district, he has left a legacy of cooperative problem solving.

Shepherd also serves on ACSA’s Council of Human Resources Leaders representing Regions 3 and 2.