LEBANON - The Lebanon Community School District is wading back into a human resources hiring decision that caused a tangle of disagreements this summer.

The district is seeking applicants for one new half-time director of human resources and is considering hiring a second half-time director specifically to oversee classified employees.

Superintendent Rob Hess said Friday that the half-time position posted was already part of the district's organizational chart. He said administrators are still deciding whether the second position is necessary, and if they determine it is, the new structure will be presented to the Lebanon School Board for approval.

Human resources became an area of some dispute after Interim Superintendent George Lanning changed the department before leaving in June.

Assistant Superintendent Steve Kelley, who took a job elsewhere in April, had overseen human resources as part of his duties. Lanning eliminated Kelley's position and promoted human resources specialist Kim Collins to a new position of "director of human resources." But while the board had authorized the new structure, it never approved Collins for the job.

When new board members took office in July, Chairman Russ McUne said district policy requires openings to be posted and applicants reviewed by a screening committee.

And, board members noted, the job description asks for an administrative license for human resource directors, which Collins did not possess.

Collins went back to her specialist position and the district hired Dale Koger in September as a half-time administrator whose duties included oversight of human resources. The new half-time licensed director position will remove those duties from his roster.

If administrators, and the board, move forward on the idea of a second director for classified employees, Collins would be eligible to apply for it, Koger said, as it wouldn't require the administrative license. And, he said, it would be possible for her to act as a half-time director and a half-time specialist to stay full time.

The licensed half-time position is advertised at $48,000 to $51,000. No salary determination will be made for the second position until it is approved, Hess said.

Hess said the district will be able to pay for both positions because overall salaries and benefits are under budget for the year and the district received 112 more students than predicted in the spring. That means an additional payment from the state, which they'll know more about after a final audit scheduled next week is completed.

Collins said she believes a classified director would be better able to support classified employees, and that she'd be delighted to apply for the job.

"I love my job and I believe in Lebanon, and that's why I keep coming in, saying, 'hey, I know human resources and I know human resources law,'" she said. "I'm not afraid of competing for a position."