When people think about education, they think of the classrooms. They don’t consider the work required to ensure the students and teachers are there, in working facilities, with the resources they need, while the district meets all the state and federal requirements for serving children and spending taxpayer dollars.
Ask the people ensuring all those things happen about how central offices are staffed in our local public schools and one word repeats: lean. Behind simple job titles are a range of responsibilities for each.
Blount County Schools Director David Murrell addressed the idea that the district had too many people at the top at the beginning of the school board’s March budget meeting for the 2024-25 school year.
“We are the 16th largest school district in the state of Tennessee,” among more than 140, he noted. “We’re pretty efficient up here.”
“Two years ago — we don’t have updated information from last year — ADM (average daily membership/enrollment) to supervisor spending, we were 135th in the state,” he said. “Many of our supervisors here are doing more than one job.”
Under the Basic Education Program funding formula the state previously used, he said, BCS qualified for 14 supervisor positions. It has six funded through the general purpose budget and two mainly funded through federal grants.
“This place is run by some high quality, high performing people,” he said.
The data
The Daily Times requested data on central office staffing and pay from all three local school districts over the past five years and interviewed administrators. Comments from Maryville City Schools and Alcoa City Schools echoed what Murrell said about central office staffing being low for the size of their districts and people filling multiple roles.
The last time The Daily Times examined the central office staffing was in 2015, and it included the names and salary for all positions. (That article is available to subscribers online .) This year’s article includes only the names and pay for positions earning at least $100,000. Alcoa’s supervisor of K-5 instruction and the coordinator of the BCS’s Friends extended school program both earn more than $99,000
Data is not directly comparable across districts. For example, BCS insurance issues are handled by Blount County government employees, while Maryville City Schools administers a self-funded insurance program. Even within a district it’s important to look at details. While MCS has more technology positions at the central office now than five years ago, that’s an evolution of positions from the school to the district level.
BCS went from having two assistant directors to one, and the number of central office administrative positions is up by three, to 46, but many duties have been reorganized.
The list provided to The Daily Times included Chief Financial Officer Kristi Yates for this year but not former CFO Troy Logan, who continues to work for the district. BCS spokesperson Amanda Vance said the list includes only permanent positions, and Logan’s is temporary. He is expected to continue doing some work for BCS in the next school year, on an “as needed” basis, she said.
In the past few years BCS added an employee for the Family Resource Center, which helps families directly and through a range of programs to access needs ranging from eyeglasses to food. So far this school year, the two BCS FRC employees have served at least 600 students in 413 families and made 136 home visits.
Since the pandemic, BCS has received more than $26.4 million through the federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief fund. The district hired a new bookkeeper for tracking, monitoring and reporting that spending and ensuring it met the requirements, but with the program ending this school year, that position is being eliminated.
In Maryville City Schools, Assistant Director Amy Vagnier moved into a part-time position this school year, and some of her previous duties were reassigned. “I think she went from 80 hours a week to 40,” Director Mike Winstead said with a laugh.
Alcoa City Schools also has seen responsibilities change over the past five years, but the net is one additional position. This school year director of operations is a new title and the second highest-paid position in Alcoa’s Educator Support Center.
A former teacher and principal, Scott Porter’s responsibilities include facilities, from construction to custodial services. He’s also heavily involved in purchasing and leads the technology department, according to Selena Coker, the district’s human resources director.
“We all wear a lot of hats because we’re so small,” she said.
In 2021 BCS hired a facilities director to oversee the more than 2.3 million square feet it has under roof and multimillion-dollar capital projects.
Winstead said the Maryville district’s facilities coordinator position has gone back and forth over the years between full and part time and has grown in responsibility. MCS has moved programs into the former Fort Craig school and is working on plans for the expansion of Maryville High School.
Behind the titles
The titles of central office staff give only a glimpse of the people’s responsibilities.
In Blount County Schools this year, 15% of the student population receives special education, and students may need a range range of services. Because BCS is the county school district, its special education supervisor, April Herron, also is responsible for overseeing the education of anyone in juvenile detention in the county, regardless of their usual school district.
In ACS, Mary Beth Warwick’s title is director of special education, but she’s responsible for other special populations, including a growing prekindergarten program and the rapidly increasing number of students who are learning English, a move that has led Alcoa to now have an English as a second language teacher in all four schools.
BCS eliminated a separate position for communications a few years ago, and those responsibilities now fall to Vance, who is also the district’s K-5 instructional supervisor. Blount County’s elementary students are spread among 15 schools. District communications include a range of responsibilities, from notifying everyone of school closures to rolling out Blount County Schools’ new logo. Parent and staff newsletters, alumni publications, the district’s website and social media accounts all are part of that job.
Maryville City Schools’ communications and special projects coordinator Maria Greene also has responsibilities for programs such as Title I, the federal program funding services for students from low-income families.
Maryville’s Melissa Stowers is listed as the college and career coordinator, but she also has responsibilities for safety and disciplinary hearings.
BCS has more than 70 regular education bus routes alone, so it has a separate coordinator of bus transportation. In Maryville, Joe Pinkerton covers transportation, attendance and residency. Winstead explained the latter includes home visits to ensure students haven’t moved out of the district without telling the schools.
“In a small district we don’t have the luxury of specializing,” Winstead said.
BCS is one of the largest employers in Blount County, and Human Resources Coordinator Courtney Whitehead said she still signs off on every hiring sheet by hand, taking time to pause and think about the person she is putting in the position. Her office handles recruiting, verifying licenses, background checks, training and staff recognition.
In a typical year, BCS onboards 100 new teachers, in addition to other positions.
Phones to printers
A BCS position not seen on the other districts’ staffing lists is voice communication administrator, the person responsible for phone service across the 21 schools and central office.
The only part-time positions on the BCS central office list are two receptionists, so callers talk to a person instead of just navigating an automated system. “When you’re talking about someone’s children, they want to talk with someone, and they want to be heard,” Vance said.
Maryville City Schools has a full-time “printer” position. “We do all the major copying from the central office for teachers,” Winstead explained.
“Our teaching assistants, especially in elementary, shouldn’t be making copies or cutting things out for crafts; they should be a part of instruction. They should be leading small reading groups, and they are,” he said.
Vance said Blount County wants people to understand the work staff members are doing. “We want to make sure our community has an understanding of the work and the magnitude of the work and our commitment to making sure that all of our students are cared for and served and loved and are graduating equipped to achieve excellence,” she said.
“We are all in,” Vance said, “our little, small mighty group.”
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