School Secretary

This is a secretarial position responsible for the performance of complex secretarial and routine administrative duties necessary for the efficient operation of a secondary school, office or special education program and the use of a personal computer for word processing and database entry is an integral part of the position. Duties include relieving the principal of administrative details of work with established procedures. The employee reports directly to, and works under the general supervision of, a secondary school principal. General supervision may be exercised over clerical staff. Does related work as required.

Responsibilities

(All need not be performed in a given position. Other related activities may be performed although not listed.) Types correspondence, reports, and confidential evaluations of the professional staff either from rough or finished copy; Types correspondence or emails, agendas, and minutes of meetings; Composes and types routine letters of inquiry or response for the principal; Assists the principal and professional staff in preparation of reports, bulletins, and registration notices by supplying and organizing material and clerical personnel; Supervises the maintenance of various school files and records, including daily student attendance reports, posting of grades; Files and updates school office materials, including confidential correspondence, memoranda, reports; Serves as the contact person for central office, the faculty, custodial, lunchroom and transportation staff, students, parents and the general public; Accepts telephone and other communications for the principal and screens phone calls; Keeps attendance records of professional and support services staff, and requests for leaves of absences, sick and personal days; Serves as a receptionist by screening visitors, announcing appointments and scheduling appointments; Operates the switchboard or answers telephones; Operates a variety of office equipment such, as a personal computer, calculator and photo copier; Sorts, checks, and distributes payroll checks; Issues monies from petty cash and keeps records of issuance; Schedules use of school buildings by the faculty, students, civic or adult education groups; Supervises clerical staff and student aides in the performance of assigned work; Instructs clerical staff in office practices and use of equipment; Supervises requisitioning of supplies and preparation of vouchers; Assists with preparation for faculty meetings by notifying attendees, reserving rooms, developing agendas, etc. FULL PERFORMANCE KNOWLEDGES, SKILLS, ABILITIES AND PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS: Thorough knowledge of office terminology, procedures and equipment; good knowledge of English grammar and composition; good knowledge of business arithmetic; ability to operate word processing and data entry equipment at a satisfactory rate of speed; ability to utilize word processing database and spreadsheet programs; ability to operate data entry equipment from rough draft or finished copy; good knowledge of a variety of computerized databases; ability to assign and supervise the work of clerical staff; ability to edit written material for grammatical and compositional errors; ability to compose routine correspondence; ability to file material and maintain currency of files; organizational ability; ability to collect and organize data; ability to understand and carry out complex oral and written directives; ability to communicate effectively orally and in writing; ability to deal effectively with the public, parents, students, professional and support services staff, ability to complete purchasing forms; record keeping ability; good judgment in solving relatively complex clerical problems; physical condition commensurate with the demands of the position.

Qualifications

Graduation from high school or possession of an equivalency diploma, plus EITHER: (A) Graduation from a regionally accredited or New York State registered college or university with an Associates degree in Secretarial Science plus two (2) years paid full-time or its part-time equivalent experience in office clerical or secretarial work; OR, (B) Graduation from a regionally accredited or New York State registered college or university with an Associates degree plus three (3) years of paid full-time or its part-time equivalent experience as defined in (A) above; OR, (C) Four (4) years paid full-time or its part-time equivalent experience as defined in (A) above; OR, (D) An equivalent combination of education and experience as described in (A), (B), and (C) above. NOTE: Additional college-level training beyond the two (2) years may not be substituted for the experience requirements. NOTE: Experience as a Teller, Cashier or Sales Clerk will not be considered office clerical or secretarial experience. SPECIAL REQUIREMENT: If you are appointed, you will be required to have a valid license to operate a motor vehicle in New York State or otherwise demonstrate your capacity to meet the transportation needs of the job.