District outlines special-education vacancies, adds SROs and anonymous tip system

District human-resources staff told the board that three special-education teacher positions recently became vacant — two at the high school and one at the elementary — and that recruiting remains challenging given statewide and national shortages in special-education personnel.

Michelle (HR lead) said the district is actively recruiting via colleges, job boards (Indeed, LinkedIn) and has interviews scheduled. She noted the shortage area and burnout in special education as contributing factors and said upcoming teacher negotiations may consider contract changes to improve recruitment and retention.

Separately, the district announced the return/addition of three school resource officers (SROs): Elizabeth Jones (who will work part time across sites), Officer Bob at the middle school and Officer Pete at the high school. Board members thanked the police department for the partnership.

Staff also described implementation of the 'Say Something' anonymous reporting platform for students in grades 6–12. The vendor routes tips through a Sandy Hook processing center that triages reports and forwards life-or-death threats to police and serious concerns to building and district administrators; less serious tips are routed for building-level follow-up. Staff emphasized the system's anonymity and vendor triage to reduce false-alarm burden on staff.

On communications, the board discussed ParentSquare rollout and possible integrations with PowerSchool and the Mosaic lunch system to give families clearer visibility into lunch balances and reduce surprise debt notifications.