Board Approves School Improvement Plans, Discusses School Resource Officer

During the regular meeting of the Staunton CUSD #6 Board of Education held on Tuesday, February 19, 2019 the Board approved school improvement work plans for Staunton Elementary and Staunton Junior High Schools. The District and its' individual schools are engaged with in-depth school improvement planning that includes multiple components working in a coherent manner while embedded in a continuous development process. A systematic approach will be used to drive change in the areas of 1) Safe and Supportive Environment, 2) Equity and Improvement for All Students 3) Student Access and Opportunity 4) Family and Community Engagement 5) Educator Effectiveness. 

Regarding campus safety the Board engaged in an in-depth discussion about partnering with the City of Staunton to provide a school resource officer (SRO) for District schools. An SRO is a full-time law enforcement officer with sworn law enforcement authority, trained in school-based policing and crisis response, and assigned by the employing law enforcement agency to work with the school using community-oriented policing concepts. The role of the SRO is to serve as informal counselor, educator, and emergency manager. Continued discussions will be held and information brought before the Board to determine the feasibility of adding this position. In other campus safety discussions the Board discussed closing campus at lunch for SHS freshmen beginning the 2019-2020 school year. The purpose for this consideration is looking at "freshmen on track" data which is a key predictor of high school success. Closing campus for freshmen will reduce opportunities for off-campus discipline, truancy, and chronic absenteeism. 

Following closed session the Board approved the following under the personnel report: 

  • The Board recognized the resignation of Kyle McBrain as SHS Girls Basketball Coach with thanks for service. 
  • The Board approved the following recommendations for hire:
    • Counselor - Sara Kilpatrick will assume full time duties with Staunton Elementary/Junior High Schools upon termination of an Intergovernmental Agreement with Southwestern CUSD #9 for shared services. 
    • Custodians: Mary Griffith, Iris Hubert
    • Bus Driver: Kelly Streubel
    • SJH Track Coach: Joshua Clark
    • Substitute Teacher: Leisa Grimm
    • SHS Volunteer Track Coach: Neil Guetterman
  • Sequence of Honorable Dismissal List: The sequence of honorable dismissal list is an annual item required per school code and reflects the order of dismissal only in the event the Board of Education would reduce force for financial reasons. 
  • Recognition of Maternity Leave - Tiffany Schwalb

To learn more of all action and discussion items that took place during the meeting please view the summary of minutes on the District website.