In an effort to increase operating efficiency, Denair Unified School District Board of Trustees voted on Tuesday on a district office restructure that eliminated one management position and established two confidential positions in its place.
In place of the Executive Assistant to the Superintendent/Director of Personnel position, which was approved for elimination, the District will now have an Executive Assistant to the Superintendent/Board and a Personnel/Account Technician.
“The job of Executive Assistant to the Superintendent/Director of Personnel was flawed in its design,” said Superintendent Aaron Rosander. “The overall workload, pace, wide range of responsibilities and hours worked was simply unrealistic and a recipe for employee burnout.
“The establishment of two new positions is a more efficient and cost-effective way to perform these necessary duties,” continued Rosander.
Prior to Tuesday’s vote, the Executive Assistant to the Superintendent/Director of Personnel was defined as a management position that included more than 40 hours of work each week spent maintaining all secretarial work for the superintendent in addition to handling of all personnel transactions.
“You typically do not see personnel married to the superintendent’s secretary—you just don’t. It’s a pretty technical job,” said Rosander. “The personnel component that was attached to the position has become much more rigorous and much more detailed.”
The Executive Assistant to the Superintendent/Board position will be a full time commitment that will provide support to both the superintendent and the board of trustees by performing confidential secretarial and administrative support services.
Among other duties, the position will prepare written materials, including brochures and legal notices, maintain and update the District website, and formulate board agendas.
The position will start at the first step of the 2015-16 Classified Confidential Salary Schedule at $17.27 an hour, with the possibility of earning $22.75 an hour at the 10th and final step. Movement across the schedule is one step per year from initial placement.
The Personnel/Account Technician was the second job description approved on Tuesday. This position would require 3.5 hours per day in order to perform all functions pertaining to personnel, including but not limited to credentials, evaluation and recruitment duties, such as announcements, application-handling, examination, interviewing and background checks.
The Personnel/Account Technician will report to Rosander for personnel matters and to Chief Business Officer Linda Covello for business matters. Rosander reported that the position would also assist the Office of Business Services if needed.
“We won’t have a shortage of work,” said Rosander, “but this restructure sure takes the sting out of the previous position.”
The position will start at the first step of the 2015-16 Classified Confidential Salary Schedule at $15.28 an hour, with the possibility of earning $20.02 an hour at the 10th final step.
“The redistribution of work duties creates greater viability, sustainability and focus for the persons in these positions—all of which is a benefit to the employees and to the District in providing these necessary services.”
According to Rosander, the net effect of this restructure, including benefits, is estimated to result in somewhere between no additional cost to the District to $5,000 annually depending on the level of experience of the person being hired into each newly established position.
“This comes as virtually no cost to the District, but I think from a business operation point of view, it’ll have a real positive effect on our ability to retain good employees,” said Rosander.
