New director keeps schools running
By Jeff Gilbride
DAILY NEWS STAFF
WALTHAM - The position school Superintendent Peter Azar described as one of the most important jobs in the district has been filled.
Gus Martinson of Osterville started Monday as the new director of human resources for the Waltham public schools.
"I saw the posting online and I had heard a lot of good things about the Waltham area and the Waltham school system," Martinson said in his office yesterday at Waltham High School. "I knew they had a whole new leadership in staff and I hoped to be a part of that team."
The human resources position was created after Assistant Superintendent Emile Rosenberg retired earlier this year. In the past, Azar explained, a number of district employees handled different aspects related to human resources.
As the director of human resources, Martinson will monitor hiring, retirements and leaves of absence.
"Right now I'm working on contract negotiations and developing some processes relative to personnel issues," he said. "I'm posting positions and working with teachers around school-related issues."
Martinson said the biggest challenge has been getting acclimated to the different schools and administrators.
Before coming to Waltham, Martinson was executive director of human resources for the Fall River public schools. He is no stranger to the classroom.
"I've had three careers. I was a teacher for my first eight years out of college. Then I was a training manager for Verizon for about 20 years, then came into human resources," he said. "I think my experience at each level will be valuable."
Martinson said he intends to move closer to Waltham now that he has been hired. His wife is a middle school teacher at a public school in Reading and he has three children, a son who is a civil engineer, a daughter who is a middle school English teacher and another daughter attending Southern New Hampshire University.
The human resource position was posted as having a negotiable salary of around $90,000. The job description required the new director to handle all aspects of human resources for the district, including developing employee recruitment and retention programs, overseeing collective bargaining and supervising evaluations for all district employees.
Jeff Gilbride can be reached at 781-398-8005 or at jgilbrid@cnc.com.
