School chief makes case for aide posts

Spread thin, needs help, he tells panel

BENTONVILLE — Bentonville School District Superintendent Michael Poore is reorganizing his administrative team to give himself and other employees more support, he said.

“I’ve got myself spread too thin,” Poore said last week, explaining his recommendation to the School Board.

Poore’s plan is to create new titles of deputy superintendent and chief operating officer, revamping the job descriptions of two existing positions.

The change won’t affect the number of employees, but it will increase the payroll because of the added responsibilities that will accompany both positions. Poore said the positions would add less than $50,000 to the district’s annual operating budget, which this year is $146 million.

Poore directly supervises nine administrators, as well as his administrative assistant, Vicki Lunsford. Five administrators, including the deputy superintendent and chief operating officer, will report to him once the reorganization is complete.

The School Board unanimously approved Poore’s plan at its meeting Dec. 14. Poore hopes to take his recommendation to the board next month on candidates for both positions.

The plan became feasible this month when federal programs director Janet Schwanhausser was chosen as the district’s next finance director, Poore said.

The federal programs director position is becoming the deputy superintendent position. It will retain oversight of federal programs and include additional supervisory duties over four other administrators. The deputy superintendent position was posted last week, Poore said.

“That will be a very challenging job,” Poore said. “Because if you look at it in terms of what Dr. Schwanhausser is currently doing, she’s a fulltime person with that position. She’s got 50 hours and probably more every week in that role.”

The chief operating officer will assume supervision of four administrators who currently report to Poore.

Board member Grant Lightle said that although the move does not represent a huge amount of money, he was concerned about midyear additions to the budget.

Poore reminded him of the board’s long-standing desire for him to create a succession plan.

“We don’t have that in place right now in terms of the credentials in case I have an extended illness, or I’m called out to take care of my parents or whatever else might occur,” Poore said, adding that the deputy superintendent would have the training and background necessary to fill in for him.

Prismatic Services, a North Carolina firm, did a study on the district’s staffing levels about two years ago. That study found that the district is spending considerably less on its central administration than what other comparable districts spend, Poore said.

Travis Riggs, board president, supported Poore’s recommendation but expressed concern that it might not be sufficient to keep pace with the district’s growth.

“I think you’re selling yourself short here,” Riggs told Poore. “I don’t know if we’re doing that federal programs position justice. I’m concerned we might be spreading that person too thin.”

Poore said he purposely kept his proposal on the conservative side to ensure that the entire board would support it.

“And secondly, we are going to have other needs within our district that are going to need to be addressed,” he said.