Rosemary Salazar: 'We really are your friend. We are here to help.'

Rosemary Salazar

Human Resources Analyst

Human Resources Department

Rosemary Salazar started her career at the Monterey Peninsula Unified School District in 1993 right after she graduated from North County High School in Castroville, where she grew up. She began as an instructional aide and moved to attendance clerk and then library assistant. She left to attend school and returned as a substitute overseeing workers compensation. In 2007, she was re-hired permanently as a Human Resources Analyst and has been in that role ever since.

With a total of 15 years at MPUSD, she is a valued member of the MPUSD team and is even a veteran team member. “I’ve always enjoyed working for MPUSD. I’ve stayed here. I left and then came back.”

Rosemary credits one of the reasons she loves MPUSD is her team. “I work with a wonderful group of women. While we are down two team members, our stakeholders really can’t tell because we are out there getting the job done.”

 

If you take away anything from Rosemary, it’s that “HR is your friend.” She believes there is a perception that HR is not your friend, but we need to help our employees. “We really are your friend. We are here to help. So whatever concerns or issues you have, come let us know and we will do our best to help you resolve that issue or problem,” she says.

 

 

Human Resources provides many services to employees. From sick leave accrual to step and column questions to leave options, the questions the department receives runs the gamut. Rosemary says the department receives a high volume of both calls and emails on a daily basis, and the team’s goal is to respond within 24 hours so that employees are not in limbo. “If someone is reaching out, they have a question and it’s urgent,” she says.

Each day is different in the world of Human Resources. Rosemary comes in and the day starts out running smoothly, but soon the department has numerous people coming in with questions or requests, such as filling substitute requests or fingerprinting. The phone calls and emails start rolling in and then it’s all hands on deck. So every day is different.

Her favorite role throughout her MPUSD career has been working in the Human Resources department. She says, “HR is not what you think. We are here with a service mindset. We have an awesome team and believe in supporting each other. We have our good times, we have our bad times, but at the end of the day we come together because we all have the same task in mind, which is to get our work done and to provide 100 percent to the employee, our client, or to whoever comes in because they need something,” she says.

Rosemary currently oversees classified staffing with regard to HR. Her primary departments include Maintenance, Nutrition Services, Transportation, and several of the elementary schools, one middle, and one high school.

She is a firm believer in pursuing your education. Rosemary is currently enrolled at California State University Monterey Bay and will graduate with a degree in business administration in December 2022. She even advocates continuing education to employees and the professional growth opportunities at MPUSD. “One thing I do is encourage our employees to go back to school and get an education. Many say ‘I’m too old to do that’ but you’re never too old to go back to school. It makes you grow and gives you a different perspective.”