Wednesday, February 11, 2015

So you want to be a Joplin R-8 development specialist

The Joplin R-8 School District has a full-time events coordinator, a full-time public relations specialist, and now it is advertising for a full-time development specialist.

Whether that position is a replacement for former community development director Kim Vann is not clear, but the position was posted Tuesday on the district website.

It is business as usual in the Joplin R-8 School District.

It appears the plan is to pull the district out of financial ruin by seeking donations and selling naming rights.
Job Description
Primary LocationADMINISTRATION BUILDING
Salary RangePer Year
Shift TypeFull-Time

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

They forgot a few items for the duties:
Keep cj's double-calendar
Write cj's cheesy speeches
Cook cj's BF books
Hide cj's extra money
Travel with cj everywhere he goes

It's a lot to ask of one person.

Anonymous said...

This just makes me want to walk away from Joplin. I've never seen a more crooked place in my life. There's no money for the kids but there's money to waste on these jobs. I guess the auditor failed to put any fear in these people at all, or they wouldn't be filling Orem's and Vann's positions. Turner is right. It's just back to business as usual, the public be damned. I give up. All we can do is just leave.

Anonymous said...

How many people are there now in PR and Communications jobs? And BF? I wonder how many teachers and classified staff could be had for those jobs. Like reading teachers. Those might be handy since kids can't read in Joplin.

Anonymous said...

I want to know why there is money for another bogus position inside the the palace when our children have to PAY FOR EVERYTHING THEY PRINT INSIDE THE PILE OF RUBBLE AT 20th & INDIANA!! This would include things they are told to print by coaches for athletic events and things needed for homework assignments!! Someone please explain to me WHY we paid $165.5 mil for a school, with taxpayer money, and our kids can't use the printers for school assignments and projects for free, or at all!!

Anonymous said...

Anonymous @6:13 PM: don't despair quite yet. Yes, this indicates Huff is not altering course because of the audit, but does that mean it's not going to be bad, or that he's in denial?

5 members of the school board were certainly in denial when they extended his contract before hearing the first word from the auditors.

Hopefully we can all wait 3-4 weeks for the audit to be released; concern is certainly warranted, but it's too early to give up.

There's also the possibility of "submarine" stuff: if the auditors found white line criminal activity, I would imagine they contacted prosecutors so that evidence can be seized before a tip-off allows destruction (although that's the separate crime of obstruction of justice).

If you want a wilder idea, suppose they've turned someone in the HQ building, it might not be hard given all the snakes there, and he or she is reporting on what's going on? Or wiretaps, bugging, etc.

There's absolutely no indication such things are happening, nor do I expect the situation to be that bad. But if it is happening, and the authorities are doing their jobs correctly, we simply wouldn't know about it at this time.

Ditto the city audit, where I'd expect there to be a greater possibility of it uncovering crimes.

Anonymous said...

Why is there money for yet another bogus position when our kids are being made to pay for school related printings of assignments and school activities (athletic flyers) from the copiers? The taxpayers paid $165.5 mil for that pile of rubble sitting at 20th and Indiana and I find this completely unacceptable!

Anonymous said...

I love that part about lifting 25 pounds. It really is time for you all to get serious because the Audit is going to do nothing but give the District a chance to weasel word their way out of the whole thing. Nothing is going to be forthcoming and things will rapidly return to business as usual.

Anonymous said...

If anyone has been paying attention to the Community Development Department, they would know this isn't a replacement for Vann. They've actually had someone doing this job and working on sponsorships until recently.

This posting puts the job reporting to the COO. If it were replacing Vann, the post would probably report to the Superintendent and not COO.

Further, Any certified staff taking on a position like this in government or education knows knows they aren't signing up for a large salary. That rings true almost anywhere in the midwest. If the district can hire someone good it'll be because they want to do this work in this field, not because they will make a lot of money.

It is sad that most of the public perceives employees in that 32nd street building are overpaid and useless. Yeah, there are some upper administrators who receive large and unfair salaries but 'some' is the important word here. That building isn't full of villains and not all of those employees are making two or three times what teachers do. Some are lucky to barely make a teacher salary (without the same benefits teachers get.)

It's easy to get critical about that building when you distrust the leadership, disagree with their choices, and have a lot of questions about what the audit will or will not mean. But it's not fair to crucify all of those employees, especially when there are many who do really good work.

Anonymous said...

10:12, If you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem. If anyone in admin was vocal with opposition towards the countless poor choices coming from the top down, that person would probably have the respect of the disgruntled teachers and frustrated public. As it stands, the majority simply see them as being followers of whatever education sapping, budget busting scheme Huff and his cronies dream up. My guess is that if they did speak up, they would probably be out the door just like the teachers who have taken a stand. This simply illustrates the dire need to make some drastic changes. We need far fewer administration positions, and people in those positions to begin rebuilding teacher morale and public trust.

Anonymous said...

By that logic, it would seem nearly all of those employed by the district (in any building) are a part of the problem since no one is currently offering up a real solution other than in anonymous blog posts.

Anonymous said...

3:51, you honestly think teachers, janitors, cooks, bus drivers, etc... have the same control and same impact on district decisions as those hired into administration? I think it is abundantly clear that hundreds of teachers did not want to be part of the problem and have thus left the district. Do you expect the turnover rate to be lower this year?

Anonymous said...

It is time the real citizens demand a new Admin position... Director of Upper Hierarchy.

This individual would be responsible for reallocating funds beng wasted on instructional personnel to more important positions,such as:

Director of Quantitative Progression
Director of Creative Finance
Director of Parent Correspondence
Director of Electrical Outlets
Director of Superintendent Compensation
Director of Media
Director of District History
Director of Tennis Events
Director of CART Liaisoning
Director of Extradistrictal Speaking Events

There are many more directorates to install and many more teachers to drive away...,
Afterall, there is a lot of empty space to fill at Memorial.