The St. Joseph School District Board of Education unanimously approved recent
hires at the June 22, 2015 board meeting. Two human resources professionals to help restructure the
Human Resources Department were approved, along with a Director of Nutrition Services. Amy
Todd has been named Director of Human Resources, and Carolyn Sanders has been named Assistant
Director of Human Resources. Leah Schmidt has been named Director of Nutrition Services.
“This is a huge step for the district in completing the third priority on the Board of Education
checklist, which dealt with our Human Resources Department. We had not one, but two excellent
candidates with high-level experience in human resources management. This is our opportunity to
bring both of these quality candidates into the district and begin making those necessary changes that
were highlighted in the state audit,” said Brad Haggard, Board of Education President. “Both bring
high skill sets to the district. From staff recruitment, policy and procedure development and
management, to benefits management, expect to see a streamlined department. This is a step in the
right direction to begin correcting some of the key issues we are facing,” continued Haggard.
Amy Todd has been with WireCo WorldGroup since August 1998. She was the Vice-
President/Director of Human Resources North America since 2013. Todd supervised management
relations, compliance, recruitment, employee/labor relations, policy and planning, and performance
management. She also managed all other human resources functions and payroll in the United States
and Mexico. Before that, she served as the Director of Human Resources for U.S./Canada, and
Corporate Human Resource Manager in addition to other HR roles within the company. Todd
received her Masters in Science in Human Resources Administration from Central Michigan
University, and her Bachelor of Science in Personnel Psychology from Missouri Western State
University in St. Joseph, Missouri. Todd’s salary will be $119,442.
Carolyn Sanders has been with the Kansas City Star since 2011 as Vice-President, Human Resources.
Her areas included all aspects of Human Resources including recruitment, on-boarding, discipline, terminations, unemployment protest and appeals, and legal compliance. She has thirteen years human
resources experience and benefits management. Sanders has a Professional in Human Resources
(PHR®) certification, which demonstrates a mastery of the technical and operational aspects of HR
practices and U.S. laws and regulations. Currently, she is on track to receive a Certified Employee
Benefit Specialist (CEBS) certification, a highly renowned designation covering all aspects of
benefits and compensation. Sanders has a Masters in Business Administration from Northwest
Missouri State University, and received her Bachelor of Science in Business Management from the
University of Phoenix, Kansas City. She also received her Associate of Business, Mid-Management
from Missouri Western State University. Sanders salary will be $102,509.
“Reorganizing the human resources department was a high priority for all involved. Our staff and
students will benefit from their expertise, and we hope the community will see how committed we are
to moving this district forward,” said Dr. Jake Long, Acting Superintendent. “To have two excellent
candidates versed in laws, policies and procedures is a huge plus for the district,” continued Long.
Dr. Mark Frost, Interim Human Resource Director, and Dr. Vida Santone, Interim Human Resource
Director, will continue providing direction during the transition phase in the Human Resources
Department.
Additionally, the Board of Education approved Leah Schmidt as the Director of Nutrition Services.
Schmidt has been the Director of Food & Nutrition Services with the Hickman Mills C-1 School
District since 1998. Schmidt supervised a $5,000,000 dollar budget, eighty employees, and oversaw
over 5,000 lunches, 3,700 breakfasts and 1,300 dinners served throughout the week. She was named
the School Nutrition Association (SNA) National Director of the Year for 2014-2015. Schmidt has a
Bachelor of Science, Dietetics and Food Service Management from Saint Mary College in
Leavenworth, Kansas. Schmidt’s salary will be $80,958.
“We are certainly pleased to be able to hire a Nutrition Services Director with excellent qualifications
and large school district experience. We have no doubt she will direct our internal nutrition
operations in a positive and productive manner as we assume food operations in-house this year,”
said Haggard.

(UPDATE: 2:42) – The IRS has thrown its hat in with several other government agencies looking into the St. Joseph School District

The district said Monday it has received a letter from the Department of the Treasury letting the district know the IRS plans to examine federal tax returns for the 2013 calendar year.  The examination of documents will take place July 21 to 24, 2015 at the district office located at 925 Felix Street.

“We intend to fully comply and answer each of the items addressed in the IRS request,” said Brad Haggard, Board of Education President.

The request includes documents for: 1. Completed Authorization and Declaration form. 2. Organizational Chart for calendar year 2013 including identification of principal executives. 3. Minutes of the meetings of the School Board for calendar year 2013. 4. Audited financial statements covering calendar year 2013. 5. Independent auditor letters to management and internal auditor reports to management relating to calendar year 2013. 6. Chart of Accounts including a description of each account in use during calendar year 2013. 7. Copies of all employment contracts including, but not limited to, individual executive officer contracts and union contracts in effect during calendar year 2013. 8. Copies of all termination agreements.

As we previously reported, The FBI and a U.S. Grand Jury are also investigating the district.

The United State District Court for the Western District of Missouri has subpoenaed several records requests over the past year from the district.  The most recent in March.  The FBI has also been looking into the district’s activities. In March federal investigators served a subpoena on former Superintendent Dr. Fred Czerwonka and former SJSD Acting Superintendent Dr. Jake Long’s former employer, the West Plains Missouri R-7 School District for personnel records relating to an FBI investigation into the St. Joseph School District.

The IRS request to examine documents for the 2013 calendar year comes about four months after a scathing State Audit report found  that a staggering $25 million in stipends were paid over the last eight years that were “either unapproved, unauthorized or improper.” The total is estimated to be in excess of $40 million dating back to 2001. $3.8 million in stipends were paid in 2013-2014.

 

Two St. Joseph School District officials have received Missouri school organization recognition for their work.

Joey Austin, Dir. of Communications for the St. Joseph School District has been appointed to serve as Mid-State Director of the Missouri School Public Relations Association starting July 1st.

Austin was elected in December 2014 and will serve a one-year term on the association’s board.

MOSPRA said Austin will assist in guiding the association through its new strategic plan. The strategic plan includes providing exceptional professional development opportunities, growing membership and providing additional online services to members.

St. Joseph School Board Member, Lori Prussman has earned an advanced certification from the Missouri School Boards’ Association certified board member program.

MSBA said the program was established to recognize school board members for participation in ongoing professional development to improve knowledge and skills needed in their roles as educational leaders in their communities.

The organization said members achieving advanced certification choose to complete additional professional development requirements beyond the 16 hours required by the Outstanding Schools Act of 1993.

Area teens are getting a chance to learn how to create their own comics this summer.

The St. Joseph Public Library is holding a free four week course for teens ages 12 to 18 on the basics of comic books.

The course will allow teens to get hands on and create their own material.

The class will all take place in July at the Downtown Library, 927 Felix Street.

Classes are as follows:

July 2nd 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.: Introduction to the comic book art form and brainstorm ideas.
July 9th 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.: General drawing techniques, panel production and story structure.
July 16th 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.: Review and finish comic books.
July 23rd 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.: Collect and discuss finished comic books. Celebrate with a pizza party.

The program is free and supplies will be on hand. The library said registration is not required.

Anyone who has questions or would like more information is asked to contact Robbie Johnson at the Downtown Library at (816) 232-7729.

(UPDATE) – A St. Joseph man has been arrested after the Buchanan County Drug Strike Force finds thousands of dollars of methamphetamine.

34-year-old Christopher Vinson of St. Joseph has been charged in Buchanan County with a Class B Felony for Dist/Del/Manf/Produce Or Attempt To Or Possess W/Intent To Dist/Del/Manf/Produce A Controlled Substance.

The Buchanan County Sheriff’s Dept. said Tuesday investigators with the Strike Force stopped a white Chevrolet SUV they believed to be transporting a large quantity of meth. After obtaining a search warrant investigators found a white substance they believe is methamphetamine with an approximate street value of $10,000.

On Thursday, Vinson, the alleged driver of the SUV was arrested in the 400 block of north 16th Street while Strike Force investigators were conducting a second search warrant. Officers seized several firearms at that time.

Vinson is currently being held on $60,000 bond; $50,000 surety and $10,000 cash.

A Burlington Junction man has been charged with two counts of statutory rape.

The Nodaway County Sheriff’s Office said 36-year-old Russell Walker was arrested after being charged Thursday with two counts of first-degree statutory rape.

According to court documents, Walker had been out on bond from a January charge of a second-degree misdemeanor for Endangering the Welfare of a Child.

Walker’s bond has been suspended and he is currently being held in the Nodaway County Jail without bond.

 

Rainfall has not delayed crews from continuing work on the Krug Park lagoon.

“The rain doesn’t affect the dredging operations as one might think,” said Jeff Atkins, City of St. Joseph Parks Dept. Superintendent. “With the clay bottom that’s in the lagoon that was installed back in the late 70s it’s actually a very stable surface.”

City equipment has not had any issues getting into the lagoon to remove the muck, however getting rid of the muck has been another issue.

“Where we’re running into problems with all the rains is where we were dumping it would get too wet,” Atkins said. “We couldn’t get in to dump, so we could take it out but we couldn’t get rid of it. So that set us back a little bit of time.”

Dump trucks have been used to transport material from the lagoon to the dump area at the top of the park.

The City Weekly reports the dredging process is around 65% complete as of Thursday morning.

“If we could get another good hard week of good weather we would be very close to being done with the dredging operations,” Atkins said.

He hopes to have the dredging process complete by the end of June.

“It’s up then for the contractor to move in that will be doing the shoreline restoration, the waterfall restoration and in fact they will be doing some expansion on the waterfall and they will repair some of the softer areas in the clay liner,” Atkins said. “Basically shore everything back up again so we can start allowing it to fill.”

The renovation of Krug Park lagoon is a Capital Improvements Program (CIP) sales tax project which involves cleaning undesirable material from the lagoon, performing work to enhance the shoreline around the lagoon, and add features to beautify the facility.

Work is still expected to be complete later this fall.

 

Crews with the St. Joseph Parks Department are working longer days in an effort to trim-up the city.

“The entire month of May being one of the wettest on record it has effected our ability to get out and keep our Boulevard system and our Parkways and the small parks all mowed and kept trimmed like we like to,” said Jeff Atkins, Parks Dept. Superintendent. “With everything being so wet and muddy we’ve been unable to get our equipment out there.”

He said because of that some areas of the Boulevard and other parts of town have started to look a little shaggy. Atkins said with a break from the rain crews have been working 10-hour or more days to get caught up.

“The areas that they’ve gone through now are really starting to shape-up and look a lot better,” he said. “After getting so tall it’s still going to look a little ragged…The next time we come through it’ll be dried up enough we’ll be able to feather it out and it will look like everybody wants the Boulevard to look at that point.”

Atkins said normally crews cut grass on a nine day cycle from Hyde Park north to Krug Park and then start over.  Small parks are on a eight day cycle.  But with all the rain Atkins said both of those cycles have been disrupted.

As of Thursday morning he said crews were already about 50-percent caught up with mowing.