Staff realignment in works at RE-1

Interim superintendent wastes no time bringing his management style back

A new staffing alignment at RE-1 Valley School District headquarters will make things run more smoothly and save money.

That’s the pitch Dr. Martin Foster made Monday evening to the school district’s board of directors when he presented a staffing proposal. And, according to reactions from the board members, Foster will get the two new positions he’s proposing. Foster is serving as interim superintendent while the board searches for a permanent superintendent. Meanwhile, he appears to have wide latitude to reorganize the district’s head shed for a leaner, more efficient administration.

One of the positions is a replacement for the full-time human resources director, whose contract is expiring. Rather than renew the contract or hire a replacement, Foster has created a position for an accounting/hr specialist to serve under the district’s new chief financial officer.

“We’re just not big enough for a full-time HR director,” Foster told the Journal-advocate after Monday night’s board meeting. “This will make it a cleaner, smoother operation.”

The other new position is an administrative assistant/receptionist to staff the district’s front desk. For unknown reasons, that position has been left vacant for some time, resulting in some horror stories about people being let into the district’s offices in the old Hagen Elementary School, but left standing around for a half-hour or more because there was no one at the front desk.

“It’s hard enough that, with our locked-down security, people have to buzz in just to get in the front door,” Foster said. “It’s incredibly important to have someone at that place. I want there to be a sense

that people feel welcome when they come in.”

The person hired also would maintain the district’s calendar, handle federal and state reporting, manage security entry to the building, and other duties.

Board members were receptive to Foster’s ideas during the meeting. The Journal-advocate exchanged digital messages with one board member who said she very much endorsed Foster’s plan.

The interim superintendent’s first meeting – coming less than a week after he officially took charge of the district – went smoothly. Interviewed the next day in his sparselyfurnished office, Foster said RE- 1 is the only district that could have lured him out of retirement.

“I’ve had friends still ‘ in the business’ who have suggested places up in the mountains, but I’m not interested in that,” he said. “But for Sterling, yeah, I’ll do it.”

Foster faces rebuilding an administration shattered by events coming in the wake of the COVID- 19 pandemic, including numerous resignations of faculty and administrators and the abrupt firing of the superintendent. But, he said, new people have been hired and they are coalescing into an efficient workforce.

“We’re going to have better coverage, and less salary than before,” he said. “This is going to be a leaner, meaner and smoother operation.”

Foster retired in 2018 after 40 years in education, including 20 years as superintendent. Most recently he spent 15 years as superintendent of RE5J Johnstown and Milliken School District. Prior to that, he spent 17 years in RE- 1 Valley, serving six years as middle school principal, three years as high school principal, three years as assistant superintendent and five years as superintendent from 1998 to 2003.