March 13, 2023 at 12:31 p.m.
Committee recommends hiring Dean of Students at Crescent
Additional program support teacher also recommended
On March 6 the panel voted unanimously to recommend the school board hire a Dean of Students for Crescent Elementary School and add an additional program support teacher in special education.
"District leadership has been reviewing and evaluating the system of behavioral support at Crescent Elementary School," district superintendent Eric Burke wrote in a memo to the committee explaining the request for a Dean of Students position there. "With the resignation of the school psychologist, we decided to use an interim Dean of Students position to fill the need for behavioral support. The position has been working very well at Crescent the past few weeks. We would like to post for this position at Crescent for the 2023-24 school year to continue this position in our overall system at Crescent Elementary School."
In addition, district administration also requested an additional program support teacher for special education.
"District leadership, along with our administrative team, has been evaluating our current systems and future staffing needs to best support all of our students' and staff learning and growth within the special education realm," Burke wrote in the memo. "The need for a 4K-5 program support position has been deemed necessary to proactively ensure compliance on IEP (Individualized education program) timelines, goals, services, and professional development. The current 4K-12 program support teacher would move to a 6-12 program support position and the 4K-5 program support teacher would be added and will work closely with elementary special education staff at each of the building levels."
Committee members Ron Lueneburg, David Holperin and Mike Roberts asked questions about both requests, including whether a Dean of Students position might be needed in any of the other district schools, before voting to recommend the full board add the positions.
Burke noted that Crescent is the largest elementary school in the district, with 373 students, and that's the reason the administrative team is requesting the dean position there.
In comparison, there are 287 students at Pelican and 247 at Central Intermediate.
He also noted that the interim dean of students is performing well, however the position will be posted for anyone interested to apply.
Another question was whether the position should be assistant principal, rather than Dean of Students. Burke responded to that by indicating a preference for the Dean of Students title.
As for the program support position, Burke and James Williams Middle School principal Richard Gretzinger noted the current program support teacher is reviewing almost 350 to 400 IEPs.
"I don't know how that person can handle over 300 cases," Lueneburg noted.
In response to a followup question from the River News, Gretzinger said 321 of the district's 2,240 students have IEPs. That's roughly 14 percent.
"The Program Support Teacher reviews all IEPs," he noted. "Many of these IEPs are reviewed multiple times during a school year due to revisions to the IEP. Also, we are seeing an increase of students being referred to be evaluated for special education."
Students qualify for IEPs under many different categories, he added.
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