JCPS hires four to administrative posts

Shelby Scarbrough, Jefferson City Public Schools' new human resources director, smiles during a meet and greet for new staff members Tuesday at the Miller Performing Arts Center.
Shelby Scarbrough, Jefferson City Public Schools' new human resources director, smiles during a meet and greet for new staff members Tuesday at the Miller Performing Arts Center.

The Jefferson City Public Schools Board of Education approved four administrative hires at a special meeting Monday morning.

Brenda Hatfield was approved to be the part-time director of quality improvement. This position will work directly with the superintendent to "plan, organize, direct and lead the process of quality improvement throughout the district's strategic plan," a news release said.

Superintendent Larry Linthacum said the duties for the director of quality improvement will be things like developing clear expectations for the development of curriculum and processes for addressing student behaviors.

Dan Ridgeway was approved to be the interim director of activities for the 2017-18 school year. Ridgeway will take the place of Mark Caballero.

Ridgeway is currently the assistant activities director for the district's two middle schools, Lewis and Clark and Thomas Jefferson. That vacated position will be filled by Robert Ndessokia, who is currently the athletic director and industrial technology teacher at Lange Middle School in Columbia.

Chad Rizner was approved to be assistant activities director for Jefferson City High School. He will take the reins from Louis Mazzocco. Rizner is a social studies teacher at JCHS, where he's taught for 20 years.

Caballero resigned from his position, and Mazzocco will be a teacher at JCHS, though Linthacum said his exact position hasn't been determined yet.

The director of activities position will remain open, and the district said in its news release it will continue to accept applications for the 2018-19 school year, with the hope of hiring someone by January or February for an anticipated start date of July 1, 2018.

The district's general counsel Penney Rector is also leaving, after recently resigning. Rector worked for the district since 2011, and at times served as both in-house legal counsel and human resources director.

Linthacum split those duties last August, at which point Ashley Woods took over the position of human resources director on an interim basis. Shelby Scarbrough was hired for that job earlier this month; Scarbrough is the principal of Knob Noster Middle School.

The Springfield News-Leader reported earlier this month Rector will be the new chief human resources officer for Springfield Public Schools, starting July 1. The school board there voted to hire her May 9.

"Like any position districtwide, we will evaluate positions when they are opened up. Stewardship is one of our three focus areas (in the district's strategic plan) with learning and partnerships as we evaluate our staffing positions to ensure we are being good stewards of tax dollars," Linthacum said in regard to if or when the job of general counsel for the district would be filled.

As previously reported, the Jefferson City school district also hired three other administrators earlier this month, along with Scarbrough, to fill positions vacated by others who have resigned, retired or taken a different job in the district:

Bridget Frank will be director of special services; she is filling the position after the retirement of Sheila Logan.

Lorie Rost will be the assistant to the superintendent of elementary education, taking over the position from Brian Shindorf, who will be the district's new chief of learning next year.

Gary Verslues will be the assistant to the superintendent of secondary education, taking over from Tammy Ridgeway, who resigned.

In terms of news on the two high school projects, the first community coffee meeting with Linthacum is 7-8 a.m. June 2 at the Miller Performing Arts Center. Linthacum has previously said these meetings will be opportunities for the community to receive the latest updates and have questions answered on the two high school projects approved by voters last month.

He said though there isn't yet a timeline for selecting a name and mascot for the second high school, the district will "absolutely" have one within a month or two. He added "it will be a community decision," and it's something he said he gets asked about a lot.