Three grant-funded positions to support racial disproportionalities within the Neenah Joint School District were added by the Board of Education at its Dec. 1 meeting.
The positions include an Equity Coordinator, a Culturally Responsive Instructional Coach and an English Learner Educational Assistant. All of the positions carry a 1.0 full-time equivalency. The positions are funded through Special Education Federal “Flow-Through” dollars that must be spent on reducing special education identifications. The District has been identified as disproportionate in the area of identifying specific learning disabilities of Black and Hispanic students. The District is required to spend its federal dollars to address this issue and must continue to do so until it is no longer disproportionate.
Some Board members suggested the idea of an “audit” by an outside organization to determine if adding the new positions was the best use of the spending. Others believed there should be a more direct approach with support for students and staff in the schools rather than additional managers. Administrators noted the situation is similar to when a mental health coordinator was being considered several years ago. The position has succeeded in improving the overall mental health of students and these positions are expected to have a similar impact. The proposal passed by a 7-2 vote.
The Board also received an update on the progress of the new Neenah High School from members of the Bray Architects staff. Floor plans and external renderings were shared. Overall, Board members were very pleased with the direction of the design. Several Board members who serve on subcommittees commended Bray for its responsiveness in listening to and addressing the concerns of staff and building user groups.
The 2021 summer school proposal was presented to the Board and will be voted upon at the next meeting on Dec. 15. The proposal is similar to past years, but includes more virtual options for students. It was noted that these courses likely would have been added regardless of the pandemic and could potentially provide more access for students to learn from home in the summer.
In other action, the Board approved the hires of Weston Hertel as a physical education teacher at Shattuck and the high school and Julia Lammers as an English Language educational assistant at the high school. The resignation of Washington administrative assistant Melissa Suttner was approved, effective Dec. 18. End-of-school year retirements were approved for Shattuck educational assistants Pamela Olson and Carol Gosz, Spring Road educational assistant Sally Landskron and Roosevelt educational assistant Marcia Standiford.
|