JACKSON – After 25 years working for the township school district, Business Administrator/Board of Education Secretary Michelle Richardson is retiring. Her service was honored during a recent Board of Education meeting.
Richardson has been with the Jackson School District since November 1998 when she was hired as the assistant business administrator. She was promoted to the role of Business Administrator and Board of Education Secretary in January 2009. Her retirement caps off 25 years of employment with the Jackson School District and more than 36 years in public education.
“Ms. Richardson, the Jackson Board of Education would like to present you this engraved clock for appreciation for all the time you have faithfully served the students of Jackson, your fellow staff members and the Jackson Community over these 25 years,” Board of Education President Giuseppe Palmeri said. “We wish you all the best in your future endeavors and we congratulate you on your retirement!”
He detailed the many developments, investments and transitions Richardson helped the district get through, including the COVID-19 pandemic when she worked tirelessly with the district administration team to ensure business operations and food service departments were able to educate and nourish children during the pandemic.
During her tenure, Richardson has seen the building of McAuliffe Middle School, Crawford-Rodriguez and Elms Elementary Schools, Jackson Liberty High School, the Jackson Liberty Transportation Center and expansions to many schools. She was not able to accept the clock in person at the meeting due to a family emergency, but was grateful to receive it the next day.
“When I came to the district it was my intention to spend a few years getting experience in the facilities side of things, and boy did I get what I asked for,” Richardson told The Jackson Times.
“We have changed tremendously and have gone from 4,500 students to almost 10,000 students to 7,500 students with a dozen changes in between. In one year, we grew by 500 students, which is the equivalent of a school, in one year. Things have certainly stayed interesting in our large, dynamic district.”
Among the initiatives under her care include a large-scale solar project, the district’s ESIP (Energy Savings Improvement Project) that earned the district $27 million worth of upgrades and energy saving improvements at no cost to Jackson Taxpayers.
She was instrumental in saving the district money in health care expenses and was a key member of the team that passed a special question to add school security officers to elementary schools in 2018.
She was able to save the district money through grants such as the ROD grant for facility upgrades and most recently the plumbing grant.
Richardson said she will continue to wish Jackson well and hopes that the district will receive the funding that recognizes its unique needs and challenges. In the meantime, she is proud of the ways the district continues to put students first.
“We have a lot of decisions to make every day and I am proud that at the forefront of every decision is the answer to a question, which is ‘Is this what is best for the students?’ I am proud to know that my time here was spent in service to those students and I am so grateful for the many wonderful colleagues, board members and fellow public servants I have worked with along this journey,” Richardson added.
During the November 15 board meeting, the board voted to appoint Daniel Baginski, the district’s current assistant superintendent for operations, to the position of Business Administrator/Board of Education secretary. Baginski will begin that role on January 1, 2024.
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