Learning is the essence of education and serves as a catalyst in all decision-making processes for academic communities. School systems serve students, families and communities and have a responsibility to provide learning opportunities that allow students to grow academically and socially as they prepare for adult life. Embedded in this commitment is the responsibility to establish the right “fit” between the goals of the school system and its employees. Forming meaningful relationships and investing in deeper levels of understanding helps provide a structure that embraces empowerment, support, open dialogue, and collaborative decision-making. In line with this framework is what Bolman and Deal (2013) call the human resources framework which “focuses on what organizations and people do for each other” (p.113). Underlying this relationship between the organization and its people are fundamental assumptions that outline that systems exist to meet people's needs and that people and organizations need each other. Understanding how interrelationships influence teaching and learning and honoring the complexities inherent in academic communities are critical for those who serve. at the division level. From an HR perspective, three examples (division, school administration, and reading teacher/specialist) are provided within a balanced literacy scenario to capture the importance of shared leadership and decision-making in promoting professional growth of employees in teaching literacy. . People are the most important resources in a public school system, and as Hackman (2002) noted, one of the functions of leadership is to set direction for teams that is “inspiring, energizes team members, and generates… half of the charter ...monthly professional learning for principals based on the assessment of their needs and the requests of the group; and (b) monthly professional training for reading specialists who spent a year developing four literacy modules to be used countywide for work-integrated learning. As a result, there was stronger alignment between school improvement goals and division-level goals based on collective understandings. Conclusion Forming meaningful relationships and investing in understanding perspectives are essential in the HR framework. As envisioned in the scenario, strategically defining processes for multiple groups through shared leadership and learning paved the way for setting intentional goals based on feedback from division leaders, school leaders, and teacher leaders. Continuous efforts have led to multi-tiered support systems based on individual needs.