Totem kicked off the summer at the Georgia Association of School Personnel Administrators (GASPA) Spring Conference – an annual gathering where professionals come together to share best practice in human resources for Georgia’s K-12 public schools. As a sponsor of the event, Totem provided a glimpse into the innovative benefits solutions that we offer school districts.
Some of the key takeaways from the event that are significant to the HR and benefits industries include:
- Avoiding shut down to do what’s best for the students
- Some exceptional districts shared their efforts to avoid or minimize the school shut downs over the past 14 months – focusing on keeping classes open.
- Challenges during the pandemic included serving meals in addition to managing virtual + in classroom learning.
- Mental Health is a growing concern among districts both for teachers and students. Below are some innovative and enhanced mental health employee solutions:
- Continuous on and off campus support for employees and students.
- Stand-alone EAPs with greater value and more benefits including access to licensed therapists via telehealth and mobile apps, SMS, phone, and in-person appointments.
- Technology & the Importance of Single Sign On
- Employees and particularly certified professionals such as teachers and administrators have numerous portals, apps and software to use in their day-to-day jobs.
- Single sign on is a hot topic among district administrators – schools are working with IT and various vendors to make it easy for those employees to access the portals with one streamlined login process.
- Benefits and HR for school districts
- HR sees the value of outsourcing and freeing up their staff, allowing them to focus on other initiatives.
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- These include COBRA administration, benefit plan administration, benefits support, Affordable Care Act employer reporting, etc.
- HR professionals are looking for benefits providers that offer creative healthcare solutions.
Most excitedly, we were thrilled to celebrate with one of our clients, Houston County Schools, who received the platinum award for Employee Benefits. Houston County Schools was also recognized by Forbes in 2020 as the best employer to work for. We are honored to be working with clients who care about their employees and want to offer them the best benefits possible.
We look forward to continuing to support GASPA and attend future events. We enjoy connecting with school districts in Georgia to expand our partnerships and learn about their objectives and goals.
