By Sarah Campbell
scampbell@salisburypost.com
Two of the Rowan-Salisbury School System’s top administrators are set to retire in December.
Dr. Rebecca Smith, assistant superintendent of curriculum, will say goodbye at the end of November.
Before coming to Rowan County in 2006, she was the director of middle grades education in the Alamance-Burlington school system for one year. She served as principal of Southern Middle School in Graham five years prior to that.
Smith earned more than $103,000 during fiscal year 2010-11. The district plans to fill the vacated position.
Gene Miller, assistant superintendent of operations, will leave for the second time Dec. 31. He retired at the end of July 2011, but returned in October to work on the central office project.
“About the time I retired back in August of last year, I really felt like the central office project was a dead issue because we couldn’t get the commissioners to agree on anything,” he said. “I came back because it did look like things had begun to loosen up, the board asked me to come back and help that process along.”
Miller’s current annual salary is about $125,000.
Tara Trexler, the district’s chief financial officer, told school board members in March the school system could save about $65,000 a year when Miller retires for good by freezing the position.
She suggested restoring the district’s construction manager, who currently works three days a week, to full-time to help fill the void.
Miller told a Post reporter Thursday he thinks he should be replaced.
“I know the kinds of things that could fall through the cracks if there’s not somebody here on a daily basis,” he said.
Miller is the supervisor of the school system’s transportation, maintenance, child nutrition and custodial departments. He also handles the capital outlay budget for renovations and additions to facilities as well as the district’s insurance and risk management.
“I don’t have to wonder what I’m doing day by day,” he said. “It’s a pretty busy job.”
A Rockwell native, Miller worked with the school system from 1995 to 2002. He returned in 2007 to serve as assistant superintendent.
Miller has worked in the Clinton City, Lexington City, and Winston-Salem/Forsyth County school systems.Contact reporter Sarah Campbell at 704-797-7683.
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