Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Prairie Grove administrator retiring
PRAIRIE GROVE — The School District’s assistant superintendent will retire at the end of June after 36 years in education.
The School Board accepted a letter of resignation from Assistant Superintendent Pete Joenks, effective June 30, at its Feb. 20 meeting.
Superintendent Lance Campbell said the district will not fill Joenks’ position for 2024-25. Instead, the district will have a human resources director and a communications coordinator next year, both new positions.
Joenks has been with the district since 2018-19 as assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction. Before Prairie Grove, he was principal at Springdale High School and had been with the Springdale School District for 27 years. Joenks started as a science teacher in Gentry in 1988 before moving to Springdale.
The board approved hiring Jamie Trost as the new human resources director, effective July 1. Trost has been working in human resources in the health care industry. Her salary has not been determined but will be based on her years of experience in human resources, according to Sherrie Hayes with the administration office.
Campbell said the new communications coordinator also will assist at the high school with its broadcasting program. The position is coming on the heels of the district’s goal to improve its communications.
In December, the School Board approved a $10,000 contract with the firm Apptegy Marketing Services to devise a strategy to improve the district’s communications.
Since coming to Prairie Grove last year, Campbell has said he’s learned one of the district’s overwhelming needs is to improve communication with stakeholders.
Apptegy and the district are conducting an anonymous survey that ends March 11 to help evaluate the district’s communication efforts and overall operations. According to the survey, the results will help determine how to better highlight what’s going on within the district and address things that need to be changed.