Position Title:           Administrative Assistant – Transitional Bilingual Education (TBE)/Dual Language                                                      Immersion (DLI) Schools and English Learners (EL)

Bargaining Unit:       Grand Rapids Association of Educational Office Personnel (GRAEOP)

Pay Rate:                  Determined by the collective bargaining agreement

Earning Days:           Determined by the negotiated calendar

GRPS MISSION: Our mission is to ensure that all students are educated, self-directed and productive members of society.

SUMMARY OF POSITION:

The incumbent is responsible to and provides administrative support services to the Executive Director of TBE/DLI Schools and EL. The successful candidate will work closely with the Executive Director and the School Improvement Facilitators providing a link with the principals, other district staff, parents, students and the community. Applicant must possess excellent English and Spanish, verbal and written skills.

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS

Essential functions under the Americans with Disabilities Act may include any of the following duties, knowledge and skills. This list is illustrative only and is not a comprehensive listing of all functions and duties performed by employees in this position. Regular attendance is an essential function of this job. Other essential functions may include, but are not limited to the following:

JOB FUNCTIONS:

• Assist in the administration and operation of district, state and federal programs including Title III, Migrant and Bilingual education, Native American Education Program, Instructional Council
• Assists with duties requested daily. Takes dictation, compiles office information, researches data and prepares reports, provides timely report completion.
• Responsible for having a working knowledge of the administrators’ responsibilities in order to effectively assist with completion of job tasks and major projects.
• Assist with preparation and coordination of formal presentations and parent meetings.
• Interpret requests for information; determine appropriate information to be generated in order to respond to citizens, board members, news media and other staff on a variety of topics. Research, identify or prepare appropriate information for responses to such requests.
• Responsible for tracking program material inventories.
• Responsible for updating and distributing program manuals.
• Assist with program planning, including summer school.
• Answers main office telephone; assists cabinet members, principals, parents, district staff and community, providing administrative assistant support and backup for others in the Central Office Academic office, as necessary. Summarizes and prioritizes phone and other messages, responding for administrator as appropriate, directing calls to the appropriate person within the District. 
• Schedules meetings maintains Outlook calendar, maintains daily schedule for administrator(s), organizes and prioritizes all communications within the division.
• Assists in preparation and organization of all meetings and special in-services. Prepares/types materials, assemble packets; arrange scheduling of speakers, and coordinate details. Prepares evaluations, organizes and reports the data back to the executive director.
• Attends meetings, records and transcribes minutes. Assists with the organization of District level meetings as necessary. 
• Processes staff payroll; maintain records including extra compensation for training, in-service and curriculum development. Also processes numerous supplemental time sheets from schools confirming the account numbers and rates of pay.
• Assisting in the preparation and administration of department budgets, working directly with business office staff to maintain and monitor budgets for assigned areas.
• Distributes mail, compose and types correspondence, processes purchase orders and supply requisitions, budget transfers, fund transfers, mileage reimbursement forms and payment request forms. Conducts regular meetings with the Executive Director to provide updates on department expenses.
• Responsible for developing and maintaining work systems that provide effective organization and quality work for the department administrator.
• Organizes and maintains filing system for correspondence, information, data, records, etc.
• Interacts with co-workers, administration, students, parents & the community in positive, supportive and cooperative ways.
• Coordinate district wide functions, as required by the administrator.
• Responsible for the coordination and management of districtwide interpretation and translation requests ensuring appropriate coverage according to district procedures.
• Assist with on demand Spanish interpretation and translation requests, including proofreading.
• Maintain positive business relationship with vendors contracted within the departments.
• Responsible for the management of the interpretation headset equipment.
• Assisting with keeping the EL Infohost page updated.
• Responsible for drafting contracts and following vendor contract process.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

This description is intended to describe the type and level of work performed by a person assigned to this position. It is not an exhaustive list of all duties and responsibilities required to be performed in the position.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• High School Diploma or equivalent.
• Passing the required skills based administrative assistant testing (e.g. Excel, Word, proofreading, keyboarding, etc.)
• One year of successful previous secretarial experience.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATION

• Associate degree in Secretarial Science or Computer Science.
• Excellent bilingual English/Spanish, written and verbal skills.
• Knowledge of the District and its operations and procedures.
• Experience in a school building.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS:

• Demonstrated experience working with computers, required. Excellent knowledge of Windows based programs (Word, Excel, Access, Publisher, PowerPoint), required.  Proficiency in the District’s Outlook email program, payroll, student and financial systems strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated high level of technical skills. Must be able to transfer data from one system to another and create: manage reports, documents etc. in a timely manner.
• Demonstrated shorthand skills.
• Experience with a variety of office equipment.
• Demonstrated excellent organizational skills.
• Demonstrated ability to work well with school District employees, parents, students and community members.
• Demonstrated ability to work well as a team member.
• Demonstrated ability to work in a diverse environment.
• Desire to continuously improve skills and knowledge.
• Demonstrated evidence of leadership ability.
• Demonstrated respect for confidentiality of information.
• Demonstrated excellent attendance and punctuality.
• Ability to handle diverse projects in a limited amount of time and under pressure.
• Demonstrated flexibility and initiative.
• Demonstrated ability to work well in high stress situations.
• Experience and knowledge in dealing with the public, media, and diverse groups of people as well as the ability to communicate and comprehend independently.
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively under pressure and in an environment of constantly changing priorities and work assignments.
• Demonstrated effective writing, spelling, and verbal communication skills.
• Demonstrated ability to work independently.
• Willingness and ability to work overtime without prior notice, as necessary.

ADA REQUIREMENTS:

The physical demands, work environment factors, and mental functions described below are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS:
While performing the duties of this job, the employee is required to stand; walk; sit; use hands to finger, handle, or feel; reach with hands and arms; climb or balance; stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl; talk or hear; and taste or smell. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 40 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision and ability to adjust focus.

WORK ENVIRONMENT:
The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate.

MENTAL FUNCTIONS:
While performing the duties of this job, the employee is required to compare, analyze, communicate, copy, coordinate, instruct, compute, synthesize, evaluate, use interpersonal skills, compile and negotiate.

METHOD OF APPLICATION:

Grand Rapids Public Schools manages employment applications online.  Applications must be completed online at https://grps.tedk12.com/hire.  No hardcopy applications/resumes will be accepted for this position.  Computer terminals are available in the GRPS Franklin Campus lobby from 8:00am – 4:00pm, Monday-Friday, for applicant use (Monday – Thursday during the summer).

Non-Discrimination

The Grand Rapids Public Schools will not discriminate against any person based on race, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity and expression, height, weight, color, religion, national origin, age, marital status, pregnancy, disability, veteran or military status.

Americans with Disabilities Act accommodations: Assistance with the application process may be requested through the Human Resources Department at 616 819-2022 or humanresources@grps.org