Medina’s longtime school district clerk to retire
Photo by Tom Rivers: Janice Jovanelly, Medina district clerk/secretary to the superintendent, will retire on June 30. The Board of Education on Tuesday named Julie Kuhn, secretary to the middle school principal, to succeed Jovanelly.
Janice Jovanelly has been steady presence while district had changes in superintendents
MEDINA – Janice Jovanelly is the “voice of the school district” and often the first face people see when they stop by the district office.
Jovanelly is the district clerk and secretary to the school superintendent. Her voice is also on the district’s phone system.
She has worked in her current job since 2001. Since then the school district has had five superintendents with Judith Staples, Richard Galante, Neil Miller, Jeff Evoy and Mark Kruzynski, as well as several interim school leaders.
Jovanelly has been a steadying influence in the district office, and also been a key resource for the superintendents, helping them to connect with staff, community leaders and other school officials in Orleans and Niagara counties. She knows all of the district’s 330-340 employees.
Jovanelly will retire on June 30.
Mark Kruzynski, Medina’s district superintendent, said Jovanelly has been an important asset for the school district.
“Janice is irreplaceable, and her knowledge of the district and how things operate has been invaluable to me and every other superintendent,” he said. “I am especially going to miss her kindness and her sense of humor.”
The Board of Education on Tuesday named Julie Kuhn, the current middle school principal’s secretary, to succeed Jovanelly. Kuhn will get to work alongside Jovanelly for three months before taking over July 1.
That will give her a chance to go through a school election. As district clerk, Jovanelly has to line up the election inspectors, have the ballots ready and the the voting machines. She also has to post the legal notices.
Jovanelly joined the school district after working 10 years at the Orleans County Mental Health Department, first as a receptionist for two years and then as secretary to the director for eight years.
She is looking forward to having summers off, and expects to be active in her garden.
