The Haines Borough School District will restructure its administrative staff to improve efficiency and save money.
Interim superintendent Rich Carlson said the district is advertising for a Dean of Students to work under principal Rene Martin. The hire comes after administrator and director of student support Kim Cunningham announced she will leave the district at the end of the school year for a job in Hong Kong.
“The plan really is relatively simple,” Carlson said. “We’ve been talking about this since the first time I came here (in 2015.)”
The dean will be responsible for staff supervision, student discipline, parent communication, organization of family nights, grant management and assessment and staff development.
New superintendent Roy Getchell will take over special education director duties from Cunningham.
“The reorganization in general has a clean administrative structure to it,” Carlson said. The new structure will save the district about $10,000 annually. The dean of students will earn a yearly salary of about $71,400.
Carlson said the dean will have the ability to work more directly with students and staff. Board member Sara Chapell said she thinks the reorganization will give principal Martin an opportunity to better do her job.
“It’s nice that we save a little bit of money but more importantly I think our school is going to run more efficiently,” Chapell said. She suggested Getchell be included in hiring the dean.
Board president Anne Marie Palmieri said she would like to see the dean be a partner to Martin in the front office “to work closely and support her.”
Carlson said there has been some interest in the position internally. A formal timeline for the hiring process will be developed Monday.