A “revolving door” within the Baldwin-Whitehall School District should come to a stop with internal hirings and restructuring, a school board member said.
The board last week approved several staffing changes, including the creation of an assistant cafeteria director position to allow for a restructuring of the food service department, after the board has terminated three high school cafeteria managers in the last year.
A new transportation manager also was hired from within after a quick turnover in that department in the last several months.
“The revolving door that's happened down in transportation is a disgrace. The revolving door that's happened in the cafeteria is a disgrace,” board member Martin Michael Schmotzer said. “Hopefully, these two people now will be the anchors for years to come, and these 60-day ghost employees or phantoms will finally disappear.”
Board members on Sept. 10 unanimously approved the creation of the assistant food service director post and hired Judy Bourne to fill the job at a salary of $53,000.
Bourne, a longtime Baldwin-Whitehall food-service employee who has worked as food service director in the Brentwood Borough School District for the last several years, primarily will oversee operations at Baldwin High School's cafeteria, Superintendent Randal Lutz said. She will work alongside the district's food service director for other tasks.
The Brentwood Borough School Board accepted Bourne's resignation Monday night. Her last day in Brentwood will be Sept. 25. Brentwood officials will advertise the job opening, with the hope of hiring a replacement in October, Brentwood Superintendent Amy Burch said.
The creation of the assistant food service director job in Baldwin-Whitehall is a “long-term solution,” Lutz said, because the district has had no cafeteria manager at Baldwin High School since the beginning of the school year.
Board members terminated food-service and banquet manager Gwen Burkehalter on Sept. 3. The previous two high school cafeteria managers also were terminated within the last year.
Board members will vote next month to eliminate the high school cafeteria manager position now that a new position has been created, Lutz said.
In the transportation department, board members on Sept. 10 unanimously approved the hiring of David Tompkins at an annual salary of $69,500. Tompkins was set to start on Sept. 11.
There has been a similar turnover in that department, after the board terminated transportation manager Kenneth Pokorny in April.
Board members hired Joseph Knorr as transportation manager in June and accepted his resignation Sept. 10 for personal reasons.
Interim transportation manager John Frombach was hired on an as-needed basis in the district starting in April.
“What a novel idea for this school district to hire some people that actually know the district and will do a very good job and have been tried and tested for years,” Schmotzer said. “I think you've hit a home run with both of these.”
Stephanie Hacke is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. She can be reached at 412-388-5818 or shacke@tribweb.com.
