Longtime school employees step down

School board members accepted the resignation of several key longtime employees at Thursday’s meeting.

Agriculture teacher Mike Rogers, scholarship director Lisa Harris, high school counselor Debra Mattingly and middle school math teacher Georgenia Hagedorn all submitted letters announcing their resignations or retirements.

Rogers worked in the Siloam Springs School District for 20 years, according to Superintendent Ken Ramey. Recently, he helped Principal Jason Jones, Vice Principal Jerry Price and Assistant Superintendent Jody Wiggins create the Career Academy of Siloam Springs (CASS) Program, from developing the curriculum to designing the building, Ramey said.

Rogers said he has been hired by Tyson Foods to set up similar technical schools across the country at sites near the company’s other locations. He has already begun working as a part-time consultant for the company and will begin working as the director of safety-refrigeration when his contract with the school is up in June. As director of safety-refrigeration, he will continue to plant schools, oversee industrial maintenance and ammonia refrigeration safety and procurement globally, he said.

“This position will allow me

flexibility to be engaged in helping train CASS instructors and students,” Rogers wrote in his resignation letter. “It is important to me to keep the momentum that CASS has received, all the while being able to develop young people on a larger scale.”

Rogers said that the career change was the most difficult decision he has ever made, and that he is leaving many friends and valued current and former students.

Ramey said he would like to keep Rogers engaged to help grow the CASS program, in what he called a “win-win” situation.

“I just want you to know that Mike has done great work and reluctantly we ask you to accept his resignation,” Ramey said.

Harris, who started as a high school secretary, has been working in the district for 26 years, according to her resignation letter. She plans to retire at the end of the school year.

Ramey said Harris’ position is very important to the high school and the community, requiring a unique set of skills that include attention to detail and confidentiality.

As scholarship director, Harris has been responsible for coordinating the school’s community scholarship program, working with both students and donors. Last year, Siloam Springs High School graduates received 550 local scholarships totaling $642,685. The program has raised $11 million in local scholarship funds over its 40-year history.

“I have enjoyed associating with the students, faculty, staff and administrators over the last 26 years. It has also been a privilege to work with so many wonderful donors and to see how their generosity has positively impacted our graduating seniors,” Harris wrote in her resignation letter. “I also want to express appreciation to the Siloam Springs School Board for their continued support.”

Mattingly has served as a high school counselor for 10 years and worked for 37 years in education. She plans to retire and move out of state to live closer to her grandchildren, Ramey said. He said that Mattingly has done a wonderful job for the district.

“We’re really excited for her,” he said.

Hagedorn has spent her entire educational career in Siloam Springs, Ramey said. She attended Siloam Springs Schools in first through 12th grade, and is in her 38th year of teaching in the district.

“Siloam is the only place I’ve ever wanted to teach,” she wrote in her resignation letter. “I have been blessed to teach in the middle grades of this district that I love for my entire career.”

“It’s amazing to see that kind of dedication to the Panthers,” Ramey said.

In other business, the school board approved a motion to extend Wiggins’ contract. Wiggins was already under contract for the next school year, so the extension will be for an additional year, Ramey said.

Ramey said he was proud of Wiggins’ work for the district and described him as a “good man.”

“He’s a pleasure to work with and its an honor to have him. I’m requesting that you all extend his contract for another year,” Ramey said.