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Published at 02:45PM on March 21, 2024
By Jarad Hedesjmhedes@tnonline.com
A new administrator is on the way to the Palmerton School District after the school board hired Karissa Belcher as human resources director Tuesday.
Belcher, who will start her job on May 6 at an annual salary of $85,000, comes to the district from Lehigh Carbon Community College, where she served as associate superintendent of human resources.
Jamie Schuler, Palmerton’s assistant superintendent, has been responsible for human resources responsibilities since taking office in October 2020. Directors said the move will allow Schuler to focus on his role as course director.
“We want to make sure no employee is burned out because they’re sitting here until 10 o’clock at night working two jobs,” said board president Sherry Haas. “Six days a week, sometimes a week Seven days. It’s not good for anyone.”
Belcher’s appointment was approved in a 6-2 vote on Tuesday. Directors Earl and Danielle Paules voted against it.
“If all our other local schools had human resources staff, I wouldn’t have a problem with it, but they don’t,” Earl Pauls said before the vote. “It costs $1.1 million a year just to have 10 administrators, and now we’re going to have to hire another administrator. It doesn’t make any sense. I’m just trying to be considerate of the taxpayers, and that’s what I’ve wanted to do since I joined the board.” “
Director Alyson Krawchuk said a human resources job also comes with a host of important responsibilities that extend beyond the recruiting process. Overseeing and planning employee professional development, meeting state and federal requirements, and handling any employee issues are just a few items in the job description.
“Some sacrifices have to be made because Jamie can’t focus all his time on classes, and that starts to impact students,” Krawchuk said. “We do need to save taxpayer dollars, but we also need to take care of our students. . When we update our curriculum or get new courses, that needs to be taught to our employees. We also need to make sure our employees don’t get burned out.”
Tuesday was not the first time Palmerton has relieved its current managers of their duties. Prior to Schuler’s hiring in 2020, Dan Heaney oversaw the district’s technology department and assumed the responsibilities of curriculum director.
“It’s similar to what happened there in that we needed to significantly increase Dan’s time to focus on technology because of COVID, so we separated that from the curriculum,” Haas said.
Area resident Richard Banko said that while he understands the state and federal mandates the area faces, he doesn’t want to see it end up like Bethlehem Steel.
“We lost jobs there because the company was so top-heavy,” Banco said. “When I left there, for every blue-collar worker, we were supporting 11 white-collar workers. You can’t survive like this.”
Michelle Muffley, SS Palmer librarian and faculty union president, said Belcher’s addition was welcomed by Palmerton staff.
“It’s important to have someone you can turn to if something goes wrong,” Maverly said. “We haven’t had a situation like this in the past, where we had serious problems. It’s important to be able to do this without any chance of retaliation. I think the board has chosen a very good candidate.”
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