Greensburg Salem seeks new administrator to boost outreach, web presence

Greensburg Salem is looking to revamp and expand a central administrative post to enhance the district’s online presence and local outreach.

The school board has agreed to advertise for the new position of associate administrator to the superintendent and community outreach, with a starting salary not to exceed $72,000.

Greensburg won’t be adding another full-time administrator, but will be substituting the new title for that of a recent retiree. The district is “using those funds to re-engineer a new position,” said board President Jeff Metrosky.

Karen Gnesda retired Dec. 31 as administrative assistant to the superintendent but is continuing to help in the office as a part-time substitute, according to Superintendent Ken Bissell.

In addition to manning the phones, Gnesda helps organize the school board agenda and assists with federal grants, Bissell said.

“We recognized the need for a little more than that,” he said. In addition to attending and recording board meetings, the new administrator will be tasked with overseeing community relations and social media for the district.

“They’re going to be a voice and face for a lot of things, helping to get out a positive message about the district and to do a lot of upgrades to our presence on the web and social media,” Bissell said. The new staffer additionally will be “getting involved as a liaison to community groups,” he said.

The district is tapping pandemic relief funds, allocated through the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) program, to hire Meagan Frantik as a district social worker. Greensburg Salem will draw upon the second of three phases of its total $11 million in ESSER funding to keep Frantik on staff for two and a half years, at a salary of $56,637.

“Its something that we identified as a need, especially when the ESSER funds were put out there to help with learning loss situations that cropped up because of covid,” said Bissell. “We know the needs that our students have. It may or may not be because of covid, but there is a need there.”

Frantik will be available to help in grades K-12 but likely will focus more heavily on elementary students, he said.

The district is planning to repeat its K-12 Summer Success Program and is seeking instructors, who will be paid a supplemental hourly rate of $29.50. Those wages also will be covered through ESSER funding.

“Last year we had about 75 teachers involved,” Bissell said. This year’s complement will depend on the number of students who sign up for the program, which last year included offerings in reading, math, art, swimming and career counseling.