Board approves Hewitt health science instructor hire and one-year certification extension for family consumer science teacher

The Laconia School Board on June 3 approved the nomination of a candidate to serve as the Hewitt Health Science instructor and approved a one-year certificate-of-eligibility extension for a family consumer science teacher to complete certification requirements.

The board voted, recorded in the meeting transcript as carrying, to accept the nomination of Ray Mello Andrews for the Hewitt Health Science instructor position; district presenters said the candidate brings more than 32 years of industry and teaching experience and will cover health science coursework as well as coordinate LNA and medical assistant programs funded through grants. The board also approved a one-year extension of a certificate of eligibility for Tiffany Dubey so she can assemble a certification portfolio, take required Praxis/Pearson exams, and complete an oral-board presentation; that extension was presented as a one-time administrative action and approved by the board.

Administrators reported recent staffing moves: Donna Johnson has been hired as Elm Street administrative assistant (she previously served as a para and receptionist); the district received resignation letters from a speech-language assistant serving Elm and Pleasant Street and from a Title I interventionist at Pleasant Street, and it is running recruitment for vacancies including a grade 5 teacher at Wilton Heights, a grade 7 opening at the middle school, and a high-school special-education position. Human Resources reported placing a larger ad in the Concord Monitor and related outlets; district staff said they had received one application for the high-school special-education opening and two applications for a middle-school restorative-justice position.

The board approved the nominee for Hewitt and the eligibility extension during the action portion of the meeting; those votes were recorded in the public minutes as carrying.