Fox C-6 District officials have eliminated two assistant principal positions for the 2023-2024 school year, allowing the district to reduce the overall cost of salaries for administrative and professional contract employees by $194,835, according to Board of Education documents.
CFO John Stewart said the Fox district will spend $7,597,093 on administrator and professional salaries next school year, which begins July 1 and ends June 30, 2024. He said the district is spending $7,791,928 on those salaries for the current school year.
Kelly Bracht, assistant superintendent of human resources, said administrators and professional employees will receive a 3 percent raise next school year.
Board members voted unanimously May 16 to approve salaries for 45 administrators and 23 professional employees for the 2023-2024 year. On June 7, the board unanimously approved three promotions and the hiring of a new professional contract employee, and the board unanimously voted to approve a series of consent agenda items, which included the resignation of director of technology Luke Heitert, who is leaving to take a job with the School District of Clayton.
JP Prezzavento, the communications and instructional technology coordinator, was promoted to chief technology and communications officer for the 2023-2024 school year. He would have been paid $105,040.70 in his current position next school year, but with the promotion, he will earn $135,000.
Maria Bielik, who was director of data and assessment, was named director of data and accountability. If she had not received the promotion, she would have been paid $108,150 for the upcoming school year, but in her new job she will be paid $115,000.
Sue Belleville, who was Character Kids Club (CKC) director of community outreach, was named director of child care services. She would have been paid an $89,259.65 salary next school year if she’d kept the same job, but with the promotion, she will instead be paid $105,000.
Chistina Rufkahr was hired as the director of business and financial services and will be paid $82,000. She is replacing director of accounting Dawne Trokey, who the board voted unanimously on May 16 to release from her contract and pay her $1,312.50 to return to the district to help train her replacement.
“This is a restructuring of some of our departments,” Prezzavento said. “We want to create a structure where people can learn multiple roles. If we have a situation where someone will not be with us anymore, we can have a smooth transition.”
The district has advertised the open professional contract positions for director of technology, director of communications and hiring specialist.
The board previously approved a one-year contract extension for Superintendent Paul Fregeau without increasing his current $229,175 salary, and they approved salaries for four administrators who were promoted to either a principal or assistant principal position for the 2023-2024 year.
The board also previously approved the salary for the district’s new CFO, Amy Vandevender, who is replacing the retiring Stewart.
Bracht said the district will employ 50 administrators and 24 professional employees for the 2023-2024 school year, down from 52 administrators and 25 professional employees this school year.
Tammy Cardona, assistant superintendent for secondary education, said district officials would have preferred not to reduce its administrative staff for the next year.
“We believe that the more adults we have to help in the overall continuity of care for our students and our families the better,” she said. “This includes administrator roles within the district as well as classroom teacher positions.
“We are comfortable with knowing we have the right people in the right place and that we are doing what we can at this point to be as fiscally responsible as possible. As a district, we will continue to work toward having the right amount of staff to keep our students safe, our school safe academically competitive with neighboring districts, while also offering the high level of education our community expects and deserves.”
As part of the effort to reduce two administrative positions, the district named Tracy LaRose, who was a science teacher and dean of students at Seckman Middle, as an assistant principal, but she will split her time between Fox and Seckman high schools next year.
LaRose’s salary as a high school assistant principal will be $98,000. She is being paid $81,152 this year.
Before moving full time to Seckman Middle this year, LaRose was a science teacher at Antonia Middle and the dean of students at Seckman Middle. She said her job as dean of students has prepared her for the assistant principal role.
“A lot of my tasks as dean of students was student discipline, supervision and working with students on attendance,” said LaRose, 47, of Festus. “A lot of the things I will be doing as an assistant principal on the student side will be the same. The difference is I didn’t supervise teachers.
“I am hoping to take what I have done in my classroom to help teachers move from where they currently are to the next level. I hope my years of experience and the things I have done in the classroom will help teachers continue to improve.”
The district eliminated the second administrator position by having assistant principal Sara Helm divide her time between Hodge and Simpson elementary schools next school year.
Fox C-6 has five assistant principals for each high school and one full-time assistant principal for each elementary school this school year.
“Any time we remove positions within a school it has an impact,” Cardona said. “This holds true with administrative positions as well as teacher positions. At the high school level, having a traveling administrator is not ideal but does allow for the continued day-to-day operations to happen.”
The district also eliminated 27 teaching positions for the upcoming year and reassigned 25 teachers to different positions, in some cases to different buildings to fill positions vacated by people who retired, resigned or were promoted.
On May 16, Fregeau said the district will save about $2.4 million in salary and benefit costs next year because of the staff reductions.
Administrative moves
The school board also recently voted unanimously to promote two teachers to assistant principal positions.
Jason Bahr, a fourth grade teacher at Meramec Heights Elementary, was named that school’s next assistant principal, and Craig Coleman, a history teacher at Bridges Alternative, was named the assistant principal at Fox Middle.
Bahr and Coleman will each be paid $80,000 as assistant principals. Bahr’s salary as a teacher this year was $62,066, and Coleman was paid $59,342.
Bahr, 47, of Imperial, who has taught at Meramec Heights his entire 17 years in education, will not get a change of scenery with his new role.
“My plan was always to be an assistant and to always stay here, and I couldn’t be more happy about how things have worked out,” he said. “I think (Principal Dustin Bain) and I will be an exceptional team of administrators here. I can’t wait to see what great things come from Meramec.”
Bahr said two areas he will focus on as an assistant principal are helping to make sure students feel safe and have a sense of belonging at the school.
“I really think once you have those two things set in stone, you can seek out high expectations,” he said. “I look forward to being able to make an impact on more kids than the 20 to 25 I may have in a classroom each year.”
Coleman’s move to Fox Middle will keep him on the same campus in Arnold where he has worked his entire career and also where he went to school.
Bridges is located on the campus in Arnold with the Fox high, middle and elementary school.
Coleman, 42, of Imperial began his teaching career in 2008 as a long-term substitute teacher at Fox Middle, and he was the in-school suspension teacher at Fox High for the 2009-2010 year before moving to Bridges.
“I am very excited about the opportunity to give back and help more,” he said. “I care a lot about this community, not only because I work in it. I have a lot of family who lives in the community.
“I have loved my time (at Bridges). The kids hold a special place in my heart. I will miss it, but I am over the moon excited about my new opportunity and new ability to help more kids get to what they want to do in life.”
A list of the district’s administrators and professional employees, along with their salaries for next school year, follows. Those employees with an asterisk also receive an annual $2,500 stipend for having a doctoral degree.
2023-2024 administrators
- Paul Fregeau, superintendent, $229,175
- Kelly Bracht, assistant superintendent of human resources, $155,802.69*
- Randy Gilman, assistant superintendent of elementary schools, $155,802.69*
- Ryan Sherp, Fox High principal, $145,133.49*
- Janine Hueter, Rockport Heights Elementary principal, $143,384.03
- Tammy Cardona, assistant superintendent of secondary schools, $143,937.61*
- Mark Rudanovich, Antonia Elementary principal, $140,559.44
- Jeffrey Krutzsch, Seckman High principal, $138,606.59
- Jackie Waller, Guffey Elementary principal, $138,525.58
- Daniel Baker, Seckman Elementary principal, $137,577.15
- Dustin Bain, Meramec Heights Elementary principal, $130,412.41*
- Gina Buehner, Hamrick Elementary principal, $129,429.80
- Joseph Salsman, Fox High assistant principal, $127,944.54
- Tracy Haggerty, chief teaching and learning officer, $125,660
- Marilyn Jackson, Fox Middle principal, $122,890.73*
- Matthew Metz, Antonia Middle principal, $122,890.73
- Robert Townsley, director of Early Childhood Education, $122,890.73*
- Kimberly Loomis, director of federal programming and human resources, $121,473.05
- Jeremy Donald, director of student services, school safety and security, $121,179.88
- Courtney Meagher, Ridgewood Middle principal, $120,481.11
- Jessica Meeks, Sherwood Elementary principal, $120,481.11
- Patrick Schwalbe, Seckman Middle principal, $120,481.11*
- Ray James, Lone Dell Elementary principal, $119,881.70
- Curtis Sykes, Seckman High assistant principal, $118,815.44*
- Jennifer Fritz, Fox Elementary principal, $116,390
- Dustin Brown, Hodge Elementary principal, $116,390*
- Robin Greene, director of professional development, $114,190.51
- Katie Collins, Simpson Elementary principal, $113,000
- Angela Baker, Ridgewood Middle assistant principal, $111,951.47
- Samantha Muehlenbeck, director of special services, $111,951.47
- Chelsea Boyd, Seckman High assistant principal, $104,488.04
- Hubert Leuthauser, Fox High assistant principal, $104,488.04
- Tracy Schmidt, Seckman High assistant principal, $104,487.32
- Heather Schwalbe, Fox High assistant principal, $103,968.20
- Rachel Sauer, Fox High assistant principal, $100,940
- Trenton Sauer, Seckman High assistant principal, $100,940
- Ryan Shreve, Seckman Elementary assistant principal, $99,578.45
- Ann Asher, Antonia Elementary assistant principal, $96,584.94
- Kristin Darnell, Rockport Heights Elementary assistant principal, $87,002.29
- Kolin Peterson, Seckman Middle assistant principal, $87,002.29
- Lisa Hazard, Guffey Elementary assistant principal, $85,296.36
- Paul Tramel, Lone Dell Elementary assistant principal, $85,296.36
- Casey Tinker, Fox Elementary assistant principal, $83,426.91
- Lisa Brake, Antonia Middle assistant principal, $82,400
- Holly Dreher, Hamrick Elementary assistant principal, $82,400
- Cheryl Hayes, Sherwood Elementary assistant principal, $82,400
- Sara Helm, Hodge Elementary / Simpson Elementary assistant principal, $82,400
- Jason Bahr, Meramec Heights Elementary, $80,000
- Craig Coleman, Fox Middle assistant principal, $80,000
- Tracy LaRose, Fox High / Seckman High assistant principial, $80,000
2023-2024 professional employees
- Amy Vandevender, chief financial officer, $135,000
- JP Prezzavento, chief technology and communications officer, $135,000
- Maria Bielik, director of data and accountability, $115,000
- Sue Belleville, director of childcare services, $105,000
- Kevin Piel, director of maintenance, $87,550
- John Hallenberger, systems administrator and network engineer, $85,296.36
- Christina Rufkahr, director of business and financial services, $82,000
- Gary Cross, director of transportation, $79,848.69
- Gail Jones, director of food service, $79,848.69
- Kimberly Schumacher, director of nursing, $79,848.69
- Chris Kaiser, administrator and network engineer, $77,202.81
- Susan Graham, administrative assistant to the superintendent, $68,958.50
- Monica Montgomery, FMLA substitute, $67,092.14
- Tabitha Schnurbusch, human resource generalist and administrative assistant to assistant superintendent, $67,000
- Jamie Willis, administrative assistant to assist superintendent, $62,224.36
- Ana Juricic, payroll manager, $60,000
- Jarrett Halley, assistant director of maintenance, $57,904.06
- Kaila Odenwald, assistant director of food service, $57,904.06
- Michael Ross, assistant director of transportation, $57,904.06
- Michael VanMeter, assistant director of transportation, $57,904.06
- Czarina Bohler, administrative assistant to director of special education, $52,424.94
- Kimberly Pecoraro, benefits and payroll specialist, $55,000
- Tiffany Allen, Building Blocks supervisor, $48,094.04*
- Trey Jimenez, Rickman Auditorium manager, $42,436