Details of school consolidation proposal

Just a few days in his new job, Jackson County superintendent John Green is already proposing some major changes that he says will make the school system more financially sustainable.

While not adopted by the Jackson County Board of Education, a draft of the district’s leadership team includes some sweeping revisions.

Among those is the elimination of one of three assistant superintendent positions and the elimination of some district-level directors. Additional plans for the Jackson County School System may lead to a potential savings of $1 million this fiscal year.

“It’s just the beginning as we start to have a structure that is sustainable in terms of our tax digest,” said Green, who officially started his new job on July 1.

The proposed district leadership team structure will slice the school system’s key personnel into three main groups — principals, an assistant superintendent for operational support and an assistant superintendent for instructional services.

Green said the reorganization will shift more accountability to local schools, a move that he said principals favored.

Under the proposal, the assistant superintendent for operational support will supervise those working on finances and operational issues for the school system.

Jamie Hitzges, who was recently named assistant superintendent for finance and information services, is expected to fill the new position, according to the draft.

He will lead the director of finance (Betty Varnadore); the director of facilities, maintenance and transportation (Dennis Patrick); the director of school nutrition (Debra Morris); and the director of data management (vacant). Most of those people currently hold jobs with similar, if not the same, titles.

A proposed assistant superintendent for instructional services will oversee more of the classroom aspects of the Jackson County School System. A person was not named for that job in a proposal.
That assistant superintendent will supervise the director of elementary support (April Howard, who was recently named the director of curriculum and accountability); the director of secondary support (Rise Hawley, who currently serves as assistant superintendent for teaching and learning); the director of human resources (Kathy Elrod, who currently serves as assistant superintendent for human resources); and the director of special education (Melanie Britton, who currently holds the same title).

Two other positions would also answer to both assistant superintendents. They are the director of information services and technology (Bob Betz, who currently serves as director of information technology); and the director of CTAE and community partnerships (Todd Shultz, who currently serves as vocational director).

Green said the proposed changes have two goals — improving the Jackson County School System’s finances and focusing on leadership, especially at the school level. He hopes the revisions will lead to the end of furlough days for employees for the 2013-2014 school year.

“It’s real important for us to move to a level of sustainability without furloughs,” he said during an interview on Friday.

For this coming school year, there will be six furlough days — also called calendar reduction days — for teachers and paraprofessionals, and four furlough days for employees who only work when students are in school, such as bus drivers.

Like many school systems across the state, the Jackson County School System has used furlough days in recent years to cut costs amid dwindling revenue. It has also implemented layoffs — called Reduction in Force (RIF) plans — and cut programs to pull out of a deficit.

Green said the latest changes for the Jackson County School System are not part of a RIF plan, but an absorption process to trim the number of positions in the district.

“In an absorption process, no one loses a job with the school district,” he said. “They get placed in a role as vacancies occur. So as vacancies occur over the months to come, we’ll continue to bring our overall staff numbers to a level that we can sustain.”

He added that the personnel changes don’t include a pay cut for those employees, but they are reassigned within the school system. Contracts for certified employees — such as teachers and administrators — were approved in May for the 2012-2013 school year.

Meanwhile, the school system has a hiring freeze.

“When you have a hiring freeze, you don’t hire any new staff, you don’t create any new staff, but you absorb within the framework that you’ve designed,” Green said.
Ultimately, Green said his goals are to end furloughs for the school system and avoid layoffs, although those measures could change if the district’s anticipated revenue drops. Based on current revenue, Green said he doesn’t foresee the need for layoffs.

But one potential cost-cutting measure that Green will lead the school district in this year is a study of its facilities. Already, the district has decided that it will shift alternative students at the Gordon Street Center back to their “home” schools.

Besides educating a varying number of alternative students, the Gordon Street Center also includes a child development center for district employees, a special needs Pre-K, student support services, psychologists and information technology. It also includes students from Jackson County Comprehensive High School — who are bused to the facility — for JROTC, healthcare, P.E. and other courses.
For now, the change will just apply to the alternative students housed at the Gordon Street Center.

Green said the district will conduct an internal review of the best uses of all its facilities during this school year and present its findings to the BOE for recommendations of the 2013-2014 school year. Mary Ann Hale, the principal of the Gordon Street Center, will be a part of that team effort, he said.