FARMINGTON — RSU 9 school directors voted Tuesday to accept Superintendent Tom Ward’s recommendation to restructure the secretarial staff at the Central Office and Mt. Blue Campus office.

The Central Office proposal was modified so the district could stay within budget and not use any money from the school district’s nutrition program.

Ward said after talking to the director of the program, he was concerned about the increases projected in food costs and wanted to be conservative with the funds. He previously proposed to have health benefits for a secretary that would become full time come out of that program.

Under Ward’s modified proposal, a part-time secretary position at Central Office will be increased to full time. This person will add MaineCare billing to the job description, which will meet the need for the half-time special education secretary. The latter position had not been filled. The Central Office secretary has a background in MaineCare and will do billing to get the district reimbursed for services provided to students.

The proposal also designates a full-time secretary position already in Central Office as the human resource specialist. The person is already doing most of these duties, he said previously.

The plan is to advertise for an administrative assistant to work for Ward and Assistant Superintendent Leanne Condon. It was also previously proposed to make the half-time special education secretary position that was not filled into a half-time receptionist position. That position was eliminated from the restructuring proposal and will not be filled.

Money for both positions are in the budget.

The district is expected to save about $8,998.34 by hiring someone at a lower pay level as an administrative assistant to Ward and Condon, according to Business Manager Kris Pottle’s financial figures.

The administrative position is vacant.

The overall restructuring at the Central Office is projected to save about $2,025.

Ward’s proposal at the Mt. Blue Campus, where the high school and career and technical education center are, will change a full-time secretary position to an office coordinator and administrative assistant to Monique Poulin, principal of Mt. Blue High School and Glenn Kapiloff, director of  the Career and Technical Education Center. The secretary also will be responsible for handling all financial aspects of the Mt. Blue Campus.

Both administrators are in the same office area but in separate offices.

A secretary for the Foster center previously resigned and the position is vacant.

The proposal is cost neutral, Pottle said.

dperry@sunjournal.com