Burbank school officials hope title change will attract better candidates
The Burbank Unified School Board on Thursday unanimously approved eliminating one job title to create another in order to better attract prospective employees to a role they have been trying to fill for months.
The school board approved swapping the “director of facilities” title for “assistant superintendent, facilities and information technology.”
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The staff recommendation came after school officials spent the past two months searching for candidates to place in that role, which was formerly held by facilities director Craig Bell.
An initial recruiting attempt to fill the position didn’t turn up “qualified candidates” to manage construction projects and address long-term maintenance planning, among other duties, according to a district report. The current search hasn’t identified “candidates who could meet the needs of [Burbank Unified],” either.
Meanwhile, candidates who applied for the director of facilities position alerted Burbank Unified that they were concerned about the job title, “low compensation” of the role and that the position didn’t directly fall under the superintendent, according to the district report.
Instead, the employee reported to the district’s assistant superintendent of administrative services.
While the director of facilities’ salary ranged from about $100,000 to $135,000, the new role will start at $150,000, resulting in the title change costing the district up to $34,000 more a year, said Supt. Matt Hill.
The cost increase, he told the school board, would be a wise investment.
“As far as the expertise and the type of candidates that we can attract with that salary, we’re going to be much more competitive,” Hill said. “In my first seven months now of being here in the district, some of the top concerns I hear are around facilities and technology because both are becoming more and more complex. We have a $110-million bond right now that we’re implementing in the district. Technology is changing by the minute. To have someone that has the experience to be able to work in our schools...and lead an amazing team...I feel it’s very critical for us to have the right leadership to guide them and help us plan for the future.”
The person in the new position will report directly to Hill.
Charlene Tabet, school board president, said it was a good move to make the title change.
“We have 20-plus sites that, on a given day, all kinds of things can happen. [There are] 400 to 500 work orders in school year that have to be prioritized. In my opinion, we can’t do our business without that working well,” Tabet said.
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Kelly Corrigan, kelly.corrigan@latimes.com
Twitter: @kellymcorrigan
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