Core Administrative Activity 3A

Review
The job description for a school secretary includes all of the tasks that
one could recognize when observing the school secretary during hours of
operation. To fully understand the role of a school secretary, one (1) must
also review the evaluation tool for educational support personnel (ESP). The
school secretarys responsibilities include bookkeeping, maintaining
confidentiality, to have a working knowledge of board policies, records
maintenance, demonstrating a courteous and professional demeanor and
other duties as assigned.
The job description that is most prevalent in the performance
evaluation tool for ESP is professional and respectful communication. Of the
nine (9) categories for performance, seven (7) of the categories include a
clause of respect towards constituents or the position. Another clause that is
clearly defined is the concept of confidentiality. Whether the school
secretary lives within the attendance zone or not, confidentiality of student
and staff records is strictly enforced.
The role of bookkeeper is vital to the job description of school secretary
as well. The school secretary is responsible for accurate records keeping for
all of the financial operations of the school building. They must be
knowledgeable of all of the bookkeeping policies as well as the policies for
purchasing and receiving. The final requirement is for the school secretary
to have experience with a variety of software.
Post-Interview Write Up
Mrs. Grove at Salem Avenue Elementary School serves as the school
secretary, financial secretary and financial officer for the school. Her job
duties include all of the role responsibilities specified within the job
description as well as any request made of her by the principal due to the
other duties as assigned clause of her job title.
The primary role that she identifies is interacting and resolving the
majority of situations that enter the school each day. She is the first person
to interact with all parties that enter the school for a variety of reasons. It is
her job to resolve as many situations as possible without disrupting the
administrator of the building. There are situations that she is not authorized
to participate in and it is also her responsibility to recognize when it is not
within her job description.
Bookkeeping is a large part of her role responsibilities. She is
responsible for auditing and ensuring the proper use of the funds within each
of the accounts. She has to know the board of education policies on
purchasing to know which money can be used for given purchases. Mistakes
involving school funds can be detrimental for the school and the

administrator and school secretary so she must be meticulous with those

operations.
Mrs. Grove is also responsible for completing any additional tasks
assigned to her. She devotes the majority of her time to records keeping but
any additional task required of her she will complete. She discussed the
importance of having good attendance in her role and being sure to give
notice to the staff if she will be out when possible. This directly impacts the
day to day operations because one (1) of her first tasks of the day is to
determine which teachers will be absent that day to make sure there is a
substitute for the position. If a substitute teacher is running late or cancels,
she must immediately inform the principal to find coverage.
Recommendations
The greatest skill that school secretaries have to demonstrate is
problem solving. There is not a clear cut answer to all of the challenges that
they will face in the front office each day. No matter what demeanor that the
community members display when they enter the door, the school secretary
and school employees must display an attitude of respect and
professionalism in every circumstance. The school secretary must be well
organized and know where all necessary documents and forms that are
requested are kept within the office. One (1) thing that anyone who would
like to become a school secretary needs to know is that there is not a manual
for new hires for how to complete the majority of tasks. They have to be
open minded and learn fast to properly perform the job daily.