Rosalyn Griffin will be the new human resources director in the Clarksdale Municipal School District.
The CMSD did not have a human resources director in recent years. Griffin was most recently a counselor at Clarksdale High School and will now be working out of the central office. The position pays around $72,000.
Debate surfaced about adding the human resources director position at a previous board meeting. Concerns were voiced by board members on giving teachers and staff raises rather than fill the HR post.
At a special board meeting Monday afternoon, new hires for the 2021-22 school year along with the human resources director were officially approved.
The fiscal year ends Wednesday, June 30, 2021.
“The purpose of this meeting was to make sure that we hire everybody by the closing out of the year,” said CMSD superintendent Dr. Earl Joe Nelson. “And so we’re going into the New Year with everybody hired.”
Nelson specifically mentioned the importance of adding a human resources director.
“In the Clarksdale Municipal School District, we have to have a systematical approach to how we run our school district that’s based on great customer service,” Nelson said. “The students are our customers and so we have to have an approach that’s best for our students. Having that position helps aid our staff.”
Nelson said a human resources director will aid staff and be able to do what is best for the school system daily.
In other business:
Summer programs were approved and will be paid for through Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds.
The 18 custodians in the CMSD will be paid $10 an hour for about three weeks in July. The district will pay the employees and be reimbursed through federal funds.
“We were able to take a portion of those funds and pay our custodians and they will get a raise for a length of time this summer for the month of July,” Nelson said. “So I’m excited about that.
“That’s what I’m most excited about.”
The Remediate Intervene Support Enrich (RISE) Up summer program was also approved.
“We’re doing all of those things,” said assistant superintendent Dr. Shanta Rhodes. “We are remediating. We’re intervening. We’re supporting and we’re enriching our students.”
Rhodes said employees are paid hourly for summer activities because they are outside of normal hours.
“The summer school support staff, they receive $40 an hour because they’re off contract,” Rhodes said. “It’s a good rate because me being from the Gulf Coast area, we made $25 an hour.”
Nelson said the Pre-K to fourth grade remediation program will be at Heidelberg Elementary School, fifth through eighth grade will be at WA Higgins Middle School and high school freshmen through seniors will be at JW Stampley 9th Grade Academy.
“We approved wages to do remediation for learning loss,” Nelson said. “So a portion of our federal dollars go for learning loss. I’m very proud that we have summer remediation going on right now at three sites.”
St. Elizabeth Catholic School will receive ESSER funds from the CMSD for personnel. The amount is based on how much the CMSD receives from the government.
“As a Title I school district, we’re a fiscal agent for private schools,” Rhodes said. “They get an equitable share of our Title funds. And with that, anytime they spend funds, we have to share with you guys what they are doing. And so, with their equitable service, and it’s the law, they wanted to do a summer program with their funds. And so those are the personnel for their summer program.
Just as we get our summer personnel board approved, they have to get the personnel board approved because we’re the fiscal agent for St. Elizabeth,” she added. “We’re also the fiscal agent for Presbyterian Day School. However, they’re not doing a summer program.”
