By Derrick ForsytheRecord Staff WriterThe Warren County R-III School District will add a second assistant superintendent. The school board approved the position at a meeting last Thursday.After a study of 12 school districts across the state that are most similar to R-III in enrollment, free and reduced lunch figures, and expenditures, it was discovered that 10 of them had at least two assistant superintendents.Three of those districts have three assistant superintendent positions.The R-III board vote 6-0 to approve the new position. Each assistant superintendent will have a specialized role. Board member Jan Sutherland was not present at the meeting.“What we’re trying to do is be even more efficient with what we’re doing in central office,” said Superintendent Dr. Jim Chandler. “This will allow us to be in the school buildings more often.”Chandler said the district continues to grow. Enrollment has jumped from 3,151 a year ago to over 3,200 during the present school year.Current Assistant Superintendent Dr. Gregg Klinginsmith will now be the assistant superintendent of personnel services, while a second individual will serve the role of assistant superintendent of curriculum and assessment.The assistant superintendent of personnel services is the chief personnel officer and directly responsible for establishing, implementing and evaluating all human resource policies and procedures as well as other student and support services.As the chief academic officer, the assistant superintendent of curriculum and assessment is directly responsible for establishing, implementing and evaluating all curriculum and instruction policies and procedures.“We looked at our positions and how we could shuffle the pieces around,” said Chandler. “We had a couple of curriculum coordinators in the central office, but we felt they would be more helpful in the buildings, so those positions were restructured a couple months ago.”Klinginsmith’s salary was $119,700 during the 2014-15 school year and he will make $125,000 for the 2015-16 school year.Chandler says the salary for the assistant superintendent will be based upon experience and the current restructuring of the administrative salary. He expects the position to pay between $100,000 and $110,000.The board is hopeful to have a candidate selected for board approval by the June 11 meeting.It was also decided in a 6-0 vote on Thursday that the district would add a behavior specialist to its special education department.In the past, the district has used behavioral specialists contracted through a separate agency.“Instead of contracting out, let’s see for a year what our cost would be if we hire our own specialist and put that position into our full-time staff right now,” said Chandler. “It could be a considerable savings. We believe it would be valuable to the district, so we will evaluate it and see how beneficial it is.”The behavior specialist will report to the director of special services and be responsible for the development, implementation and promotion of school-wide positive behavior support systems, behavior strategies and therapy programs that will enhance students in reaching their intellectual, physical and social potential.R-III