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MILL HALL -- With the Keystone Central School District Board of Directors hiring Mark Condo as assistant superintendent, his former position as director of human resources was eliminated.
Superintendent Jacquelyn Martin made the announcement during the board's work session Thursday night.
"I wish to be clear that this is a new job position in our district, Mark's current position as HR Director will be eliminated as per the recently board approved organizational chart," Martin said. "Therefore, this is not an additional position… in other words, there is no net addition to the number of administrators in KCSD."
Martin's clarification comes after members of the public expressed concern over Condo's new position.
Martin said Condo's new position is a "repurposing of the HR director position."
"Mr. Condo has the credentials and experience to serve as a Commissioned Officer of the Commonwealth and I believe he will do very well in this role," she said.
During the work session, Martin expressed her support for the board's decision to appoint Condo as assistant superintendent.
"He's qualified, he's certified, he's been doing the work and he's the person who'se taking calls" at all hours, Martin said.
Martin said Condo has taken safety calls on weekends, midnight and early in the morning when prompted by the state police, there's an emergency such as bus accidents or any other time emergency.
"He's usually the first one alerted and then handles the dispatch. He gets the information as a safety officer and then provides the media updates," she said. "So I just wanted to publicly say that I support the board's decision on this."
Board members Jeff Johnston and Wayne Koch offered their support for Condo's hiring as well.
"I just want to add that we need somebody in this position that has the proper certification and the proper guidelines from the state to step in. Right now in his role, there's a lot of things he can't do as far as supervision, but that he can do as the assistant superintendent," Johnston said.
"It's a completely different role that he has now. So, I think it's a wise move on our part and it's not costing us any more money as far as creating new positions. I think it's going to be a better fit as far as I'm concerned," he continued. "I just think that it's going to give him more authority than what he has right now. I think it's a smart move at this time to do it."
Koch, who attended the work session virtually, said this move was long overdue.
"This is a move that has been long overdue in the school district. If we needed an assistant superintendent going back to when I first came on the board in 2009, it hasn't languished all this time until now," he said. "So, it's about time we did it. And I'm glad this happened now."
The work session, which lasted over two hours, also included a presentation of the KCSD Comprehensive Plan.
Megan Hull, director of Curricular Innovation for the district, outlined the district's plan in detail and explained its mission: To develop lifelong learners who are adaptable, resilient, productive and of high moral character.
"The comprehensive planning process has been underway for a while, and it will take us through 2026. Many of our board members, our community members, our administrative team were part of this steering committee and have helped us develop a comprehensive plan that fits the needs of our district," Hull said.
The process of developing the plan involved several stakeholder meetings that included students, parents, teachers, teacher leaders, administrators, community members and board members.
"The feedback that we got from the stakeholder group was then taken to create a draft of the profile of a learner and the feedback that each of the stakeholders gave us in regard to what do we want our students to be able to do upon graduating and what important attributes do we want students to have; that's how we developed the profile," Hull explained.
The KCSD Profile of a Learner includes four "Keystones for Success."
Students who can demonstrate the skills and attributes in those keystones will be prepared for the challenges and opportunities in their future; they create graduates who are responsible citizens, effective communicators, creative problem solvers and respectful collaborators, she said.
One component of the comprehensive plan consists of academic and behavioral goals derived from current data that shows the district's strengths as well as areas of development.
During the analysis of this data, stakeholders questioned what the district is doing that is effective and what may not be effective, Hull explained. The focus then shifted to developing a plan to address areas of need among the district's students.
Martin noted one key area is early literacy.
"We know that when students do better in early literacy, they also do better in all academic areas in their later years," she said.
The first step of implementing the plan, if approved, was to present it to the school board.
Following that, the KCSD Profile of a Learner will be shared with staff members in order to develop capstone projects for grades 4, 8 and 12.
Finally, the goals of the comprehensive plan will be shared with all stakeholders and incorporated into School Improvement Plans.