The Poplar Bluff R-1 School District is looking for someone to fill an administrative role and has named another as interim transportation director.
At its closed session meeting Feb. 3, the board of education accepted the resignations of Dr. Fara Jones, assistant superintendent for personnel, and Brenda Resnik, interim transportation director.
“Brenda has been with the transportation department for years and had previously been an interim director for us,” explained Superintendent Dr. Scott Dill.
“When Mr. Martin left us earlier this yer, Brenda stepped in and helped us out,” Dill added.
To fill that interim position, the board hired Misty Dodson, the district’s current attendance officer, to take over immediately.
“We’ve asked Misty Dodson to help us out for the remainder of the year in that capacity,” Dill said. “She wears a lot of hats for us, none more so than this year.
Besides being the attendance officer, Dill noted, Dodson also heads up the district’s social work program.
“She’s all over the place,” he said. “Her background is not in transportation, but she is their safeguard in the department while we work through finding a new director.”
That director search comes at a time when the district, like so many others, is facing a bus driver shortage.
“It’s not as bad as it was, but it’s still there pretty much on a daily basis,” Dill said.
The board, Dill said, is “currently looking at some options for retooling that position. Once we get that sorted, we’ll advertise it and find the right person and move on.”
In the meantime, Dodson will delegate some of her current duties to others, Dill noted, and split her time between various responsibilities.
In the personnel department, Jones, who now is in her third year with Poplar Bluff Schools, will leave at the end of the contract year.
“Dr. Jones took over when Dr. Rod Priest retired and we moved Dr. Jackson over to finance, and we hired her to fill that HR role,” explained Dill.
The assistant superintendent for personnel position, Dill said, is critical to the district.
“There are no unimportant positions within the school district, and that HR job sets the tone for everything else we do,” he said. “It’s vital we find someone who cannot only do that work, but also meshes well with the rest of the administrative team.”
The position already has been posted, Dill said, and he’s fielded a few outside calls about it.
“Thankfully, we have a number of strong internal candidates who I believe will apply,” he said. “And of course, we will always canvas the entire candidate pool to ensure we find the person that not only has the best experience, but the best fit overall.”
That hiring process, Dill hopes, will not take long.
“We’ll hopefully turn that one around pretty quickly,” he said.