USD 475 Board of Education approves employments, discusses need to fill more positions

Holly Hendershot, The Junction City Union, Kan.
·2 min read

Jun. 28—The USD 475 Board of Education approved personnel transfers, reassignments and hires at a special board meeting June 21. The district also discussed the need for more employees.

Tim Winter, director of personnel, said the district has reassigned and hired employees to best meet the needs of the open positions they have.

"It's getting very critical that we hire as much as we can, and move as quickly as possible," he said. "We still have in the neighborhood of 40 certified positions that we need to fill, so we want to just keep moving forward, allowing us to get these administrators in place, which will also allow them to assist in the recruiting and hiring process."

Dorothy Coleman will be transferring from working at Sheridan Elementary School to become the new elementary principal for Washington Elementary School. Stephanie Kabriel, who was initially hired as elementary principal for Grandview Elementary School, will be the new elementary principal for Sheridan Elementary School.

The board approved Mallow Larsen to be hired as the new elementary principal for Grandview Elementary School. Christopher Stevens, who has worked for the district in the past, will be returning as the assistant principal of HD Karns Innovations Academy, and Jeffrey Tanner will be hired as the principal of HD Karns Innovations Academy.

Courtney Eichhorn will be transferring from her position as an assistant director of special education to become the director of school improvement. Veronica Wait will become the elementary principal for Ware Elementary School.

David Wild, who initially announced his retirement from his position as chief operations officer, rescinded his resignation and accepted a salaried position as the construction program manager. Other salaried personnel hired for the 2022-2023 school year are Kristina Castillo in Instructional Technology at the Professional Learning Center, Marcia Locke as the communications coordinator and Emily Toyo as a school nurse (LPN) at Lincoln Elementary School.

The board approved hiring 18 certified personnel in the district, including two personnel each for Morris Hill Elementary, Washington Elementary and Junction City Middle School, one for Seitz Elementary, one for Fort Riley Middle School and seven for Junction City High School.

The district reported at the meeting eight certified personnel who resigned at the end of the 2021-2022 school year.

"Everyone's just working really hard to fill as many positions as possible as we get closer to the next school year," Winter said.

Beth Hudson, board member, mentioned that the district will have to work alongside the reassigned staff to help them adjust as they move into their new positions so close to the upcoming school year.

"I think you've got some good hires here," she said. "I just think we have to be ready to support them."

Winter said everyone at the district will assist with the employees' transitions, and the new principals will have assigned mentors to assist them.

The board voted unanimously to approve the reassignments and new employments.