Behind-The-Scenes LC: Front Office Staff
On a daily basis, a small team of people in each school building at LaRue County Schools handles a variety of tasks all at the same time. They arrive early and stay until students have left the building. At any given moment they could be answering questions about pick-up and drop-off procedures, processing transportation change requests from parents/guardians, or coordinating the ever-evolving schedule of who is where in their building. This group of gifted multitaskers makes up the Front Office Staff within the Hawk Family.
While it would take far more than the allotted space to describe what each team member does on any given day, it can be generally summarized in two pillars: attendance and bookkeeping. Eric Allen, Director of Student Services, explains why attendance clerks serve as a foundational piece of the everyday workings from before students arrive until after they go home, "Attendance clerks play a vital role in our day-to-day operations throughout the school year. On the outside, it might be hard for someone to understand why attendance is so important among the many hats worn by these members of the Hawk Family. But even a short glance into everything from school safety to student success is built largely off of tracking when students are present and when they are not. The data is clear when a student is in the habit of being present at school (outside of being sick or other important reasons for absence), not only are their grades better but so is their social and emotional health due to being connected to their peer groups.”
Pat Reed, Principal at Hodgenville Elementary School, speaks to the second large pillar handled by Front Office Staff in the district, “For HES and all of our schools, bookkeepers play a vital role in our everyday operations. From purchasing daily consumables used in the building, all the way to special projects and field trips, these staff members are truly central to our success. There are so many rules and regulations surrounding how schools can spend money, their expertise is invaluable in allowing us to handle all we need to do on a daily basis ensuring everything is tracked and recorded properly.”
It is hard to overstate just how much these members of the Hawk Family do. Their knowledge of operating in their position is built over time and is constantly increasing in breadth and depth. This week in our series of honoring the behind-the-scenes Support Staff of LCS, we are grateful for everything this team does to enable each day to go smoothly.
