Riverside personnel update: district fills openings, plans orientations and posts for payroll succession

Mallory, speaking to the Riverside Local Schools finance and personnel committee, reported progress on staffing after a recent job fair and outlined plans for onboarding and substitute hires.

Mallory said about a dozen candidates applied for nonteaching openings from the job fair and that internal candidates remain under consideration. As of the meeting, she reported roughly six open nonteaching positions still being finalized, primarily for elementary‑level lunchroom and playground supervision; the district is also seeking two full‑time study‑hall monitors and one additional educational assistant (a non‑certified position that requires a state educational aide permit, which Mallory said costs the applicant about $25 annually).

On the certified staff side, Mallory said the district filled an unexpected preschool vacancy through internal shifts and posted a long‑term second‑grade vacancy at Riverview for internal candidates first; new‑hire orientation for certified staff and tutors was scheduled for the next morning, with about a dozen participants and a bus tour scheduled as part of the orientation.

On transportation staffing, Mallory said the district currently has at least one trainee completing CDL training with an on‑board instructor and another candidate interested in training; there is one operator opening.

Separately, finance staff warned the committee of upcoming retirements in the treasurer’s office. Mike (finance staff) said two employees combine for roughly 80 years of institutional knowledge and that one of those staff members will retire in August. Staff asked for board support to post an opening as soon as possible to allow time for cross‑training; they recommended posting internally first and then reopening externally if needed. The committee discussed the complexity of hiring for finance/payroll positions given the district’s specialized software and the heavy summer workload discussed by the treasurer.

Mike said the immediate plan may require two postings (if an internal staffer moves into the posted role) and that replacing the departing staffers will likely require cross‑training to preserve grant and payroll institutional knowledge. The committee discussed timing and agreed staff should proceed with posting for a payroll/finance position with the understanding any hire would be brought to the board as required by policy.

The meeting closed its personnel discussion by flagging a district employee climate survey. A board member read an excerpt from an external article about workplace attitude and urged the district to distribute the unedited climate survey results, broken down by building, and to schedule a work session to review and respond to the concerns. The board member said the district will schedule a work session after trustees have had a chance to review the survey data.

No formal personnel votes were taken during the committee meeting; staff requested informal board support to post the finance payroll position and to proceed with orientation and hiring work described above.