Staffing continues to be a conversation in the Jonathan Alder School District, but the board is making progress hiring and filling a series of vacant positions.
School Board President Steve Votaw said with the school year just around the corner, the district is prioritizing filling the remaining key vacant leadership roles.
At the end of last school year, the board accepted the resignations of several leadership positions including the assistant superintendent and several principals.
Votaw said those positions are now filled and the district is ready for the start of the school year.
“All of the principal positions are filled, all of the assistant principal positions are filled. Everything is filled, I think except for the assistant superintendent which we’re going to run for a little while without,” he said.
Misty Swanger held the assistant superintendent position until the board accepted her resignation in July.
Votaw said the new superintendent, James Miller, has “done a great job really honing in on getting staff hired and ready to go for next year.”
Superintendent Miller said he wanted to wait to see what the school year brings before hiring an assistant superintendent.
“My priority and intention is to closely assess, audit and evaluate the current state of our curriculum work and academic progress in order to make an informed decision as to the leader and personality needed for this position,” he said. “I did not want to rush this high priority role.”
One of the final assistant principal hires was formally introduced to the board at the regular meeting Monday evening.
Kathy Savage, formerly of the Marysville Exempted Village School District, will be the new Plain City Elementary Assistant Principal. Savage was Marysville’s instructional literacy coach and was with the district for more than a decade.
“The interview process went beyond our contract and cut-off date and when another district does everything they can to keep this individual from leaving their district because of the outstanding work they do, that kind of speaks volumes to what kind of leader we’re getting,” Miller said. “We’re glad to have her here.”
He also introduced Tyler Jester to the district, who will act as the new communication coordinator and administrative assistant.
“This is the individual I’ve been missing these last several weeks,” Miller said. “I would definitely like to, by this time, have more communication out to the school board and to all of our faculty and especially to our teachers.”
Though Jester is coming to Alder from Ohio Dominican University where he served as Director of Athletic Communications, he said he is originally from Madison County and attended West Jefferson High School.
The district also approved the expanded employment of substitute teachers that was granted to school districts last fall with the passage of Senate Bill 1.
The legislation allows for extended short-term flexibility for district substitutes and relaxed the bachelor degree requirement.
“That’s allowed again this year, so we’re approving that again because there is still a shortage of substitute teachers out there,” Votaw said.
Ohio legislators passed the extension in March which carries through to the 2023-2024 school year.