Pasco school district to seek new HR director

One of Pasco County schools superintendent Kurt Browning’s first administrative hires is taking a new post in North Carolina in two weeks, creating a vacancy in the department that oversees district hiring.

Christine Pejot, who joined the district as human resources director in 2013 after serving as chief of Florida’s Bureau of State Employee Workers’ Compensation Claims, departs for a top-level job with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg (NC) school district. Her last day in Pasco is Aug. 9.

Pejot was one of the first non-educators to lead the Pasco district’s HR department. She was given the task of professionalizing the operations, and over the course of her tenure she made many strides to overhaul the work done.

She changed the way the district hires substitute teachers, recruits employees and handles certification concerns, among other actions. She also changed processes within employee benefits and risk management divisions that she oversaw.

“Christine has been an amazing director,” assistant superintendent Kevin Shibley said in an email to School Board members.

He named HR senior manager Kim Newberry as interim director, and said the district will conduct a full search for its next permanent department head.

“While filling this position is critical, my intentions are to take the time needed to gather a quality applicant pool and make a thoughtful and strategic decision about who the next Director of HREQ will be,” Shibley wrote, adding that the existing staff is strong enough that the transition should be seamless.