School or Center Secretary Secrétaire d'école ou de centre

Job percentage : 45%, until the return of the incumbent.

Immediate supervisor : School Principal

Nature of the work

In addition to the duties defined in the class of employment of secretary, the principal and customary work of an employee in this class of employment consists in ensuring, as instructed or in conjunction with others, the smooth operation of the school or centre by assuming the responsibility and coordination of the administrative tasks of school or adult education or vocational training centre secretaries.

Characteristic functions

As instructed or in conjunction with others, the employee plans and organizes secretarial work so that the school or centre complies with the various administrative obligations associated with the board, the ministries and various organizations and meets the deadlines of the operations and the various school or centre activities; he or she carries out the follow-up and the appropriate reminders; takes note of the administrative procedures related to his or her tasks so that he or she may comply thereto and, if necessary, inform the persons concerned about them.

As instructed and within the limits of his or her duties, the employee responds to requests and complaints and tries to resolve problems within his or her competence; in the absence of the administration and as instructed, he or she provides information on the decisions and directives normally applicable to the problems reported to him or her.

He or she compiles the necessary information for the preparation of the budget, participates in preparing it, monitors it and prepares reports on the budget balances; keeps the accounting books of the school or centre and of extracurricular activities, pays invoices and other accounts and makes bank deposits; signs cheques jointly, reconciles accounts, keeps a petty cash and collects funds raised during fund-raising events.

He or she compiles requests for material from school or centre staff, carries out the necessary calculations, verifies budget allocations and prices with suppliers; purchases goods or fills out purchase orders as well as receives and distributes goods according to the policy in effect.

He or she keeps a school supply store. He or she draws up the physical inventory of the school’s or centre’s immovables and of library books. As regards the repair of material and equipment, he or she requests the appropriate services and ensures that the necessary repairs are made.

As instructed, he or she prepares the list of teachers available for substitution and, as requested, ensures that absent employees are replaced.

He or she is responsible for keeping registers and files concerning, among others, student registration and placement, staff and student absences, temporary staff payroll, school exams, report cards, declaration of student enrolment and student transportation; verifies the necessary data, enters it, produces and forwards reports; fills out forms.

He or she responds to students’ needs : conveys, in unusual circumstances, specific and pertinent messages to students, parents and school or centre staff and, if necessary, reminds those concerned; according to the policy in effect and within his or her competence, he or she takes the appropriate measures in emergency situations; may be required to supervise students in exceptional circumstances and for short periods; if necessary; administers first aid; completes the reports required.

He or she may be required to carry out the loan of books and oversee the loan of audiovisual equipment and carry out administrative tasks related to the loan and rental of rooms, participates in organizing the materials for educational activities, such as transportation reservations.

He or she responds to information requests on the follow-up of files and meetings, policies, regulations or other subjects related to the duties performed and, if necessary, reminds those concerned; forwards the pertinent documentation; handles the mail as well as finds, gathers and compiles pertinent information; within the limits of his or her duties, prepares a draft response, forwards it to the person concerned and ensures the follow-up; prepares a summary of complicated problems and issues before forwarding them to the person concerned.

The employee organizes meetings, convenes participants and prepares the necessary files; he or she drafts, as instructed, a proposed agenda of the subjects compiled and, if necessary, attends meetings and prepares a draft of the minutes.

He or she drafts, from brief notes, memorandums or bulletins; takes part in setting up a filing system; archives school or centre documents according to the policy in effect.

He or she uses a computer and the various software required to perform his or her duties related to word processing, database entry, spreadsheets and in-house programs; carries out research on the Internet and follows up on e-mail messages. He or she may be required to help, on occasion, colleagues with the common software and programs used.

He or she may be required to train new school or centre secretaries and to coordinate the work of support staff.

If need be, he or she performs any other related duty.