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Board adds second guidance counselor and six interventionists at Central School to support incoming students
Summary
Facing transfers from a consolidated school and ongoing proficiency concerns, the board approved adding a second guidance counselor and six interventionists at Madison County Central School; the positions will be funded in part through federal grant amendments and require follow-up staffing and certification work.
The Madison County School Board approved adding a second guidance counselor and six interventionists for Madison County Central School on June 16 after district staff explained the positions are needed to support students transferring from Greenville and to boost proficiency levels.
Superintendent Dr. Pickles and staff described the hires as an early-year intervention plan focused on improving proficiency. "I am asking for 4. 4. It is written into our title grama, so it's not coming out of our general funds," Dr. Pickles said when initially requesting four interventionists; she later amended the request to six during deliberations so the district could address a broader need.
Nut graf: The additions respond to student movement from a closed school and ongoing low proficiency; the guidance counselor position is an 11-month general-fund hire (salary cited roughly $51,000) while interventionist positions will be funded through federal grant programs and may require grant amendments to cover six positions.
Board members emphasized certified teacher vacancies as the immediate priority and debated how interventionists should be deployed. "Our number one priority is getting certified teachers in the classroom," said Ms. Gibson, a board member, who also said targeted interventions should not replace certified classroom instruction. Other board members supported targeted small-group instruction, noting interventionists can free classroom teachers to teach to grade level.
Dr. Pickles said intervention groups would be formed using MTSS data and would be dynamic: "those groups are gonna change from month to month." The board approved the motion to add the counselor and six interventionists; staff said they will return with a deployment plan and, if necessary, amend grant budgets to fund the full complement of positions.
The board also confirmed there remain open certified-teacher vacancies (one at the high school and three at Central) and said filling those positions remains critical.
