Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Staffing topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Roberts School Board hires coaches and staff, flags preschool suspension and delays cell-phone policy vote
Summary
The board approved several coaching and staffing hires and moved a part-time librarian into a first-grade teaching role; trustees said the co-op preschool may be discontinued due to staffing and failed mill levy funding, and the student cell-phone policy discussion was deferred pending more staff input.
The Roberts School District No. 5 Board of Trustees approved several staffing actions Aug. 14 and discussed program and policy changes that the administration will revisit in September.
Superintendent Alex Ator recommended hiring Theresa Kosel for concessions, Rio Chadde as head junior-high boys' basketball coach, Josh MacArthur as head high-school girls' basketball coach and JR Swansborough as head junior-high girls' basketball coach. "Motion was made by Nick Dobbel, seconded by Brad Norman and carried" to approve those hires, though the minutes record Trustees Joel Bertolino and Michelle Swansborough as abstaining on that motion for conflict-of-interest reasons. A separate motion approved Randy DeVries as assistant junior-high boys' basketball coach, with Trustee Michael Bissonnette recorded as abstaining for conflict of interest.
Ator also recommended moving Misty Pitts from a part-time librarian position to a full-time elementary first-grade teaching position; the board unanimously approved that reclassification.
The board discussed ongoing recruitment for a full-time paraprofessional. Ator said the district has been advertising and expects to interview candidates soon.
Several board members and a public commenter said the district must consider cutting its co-op preschool if it cannot staff the program. "We have less staff because the mill levy didn't pass and if we can't provide the staff, we'll have to cut the program," Trustee Nick Dobbel said. Ator said the preschool has been supported by a staff member and an instructional coach in prior years but that those supports are no longer available with recent staffing changes.
Public comment at the meeting also focused on a proposed student cell-phone policy. Guest Peter Wisniewski said teachers have concerns about enforcement if students are permitted to carry phones but must only keep them turned off; Trustee Michael Bissonnette said he prefers a no-phone policy in the building; guest Ed Zink urged strict, "religious" enforcement to minimize classroom disruption. Chair Michelle Swansborough told the board she prefers Option 2 (phones allowed but turned off and out of sight) and said liability concerns make requiring locker storage problematic for the district. Ator said he will consult more with high-school staff and bring a recommended policy back to the board in September.
Next steps: the district will continue paraprofessional hiring, revisit the cell-phone policy after staff consultation, and the board will consider the preschool's status based on staffing and funding availability.
