The hiring of a social worker to help elementary students deal with mental health and social issues was approved during Monday’s regular meeting of the Hillsboro City Schools Board of Education.
As of Monday’s meeting, the new position has not been posted yet, so it is still open, according to Superintendent Tim Davis. Davis said the social worker will likely be part-time, at least in the beginning, and will work closely with the school counselor. The exact duties of the job remain to be determined, Davis said.
According to Davis, the high school already has a social worker.
Davis said part of the reason why the school board decided to hire an elementary school social worker was to respond to requests made during a public safety forum the school hosted last spring.
“A lot of the response we got that night was dealing with mental health, so if that’s something we can help kids deal with at a young age, that’s what we want to do,” Davis said.
During his report to the board, Davis said staff members have been working on the school grounds in preparation for the upcoming school year, which starts Aug. 15 for Hillsboro students.
He said the school completed an irrigation project at Richards Memorial Field where football games are played, basically replacing a field cannon watering system with an irrigation system that has around nine watering heads, which can cover more of the field at any given time.
“We planted grass, it’s starting to come up, and hopefully it will be in good shape by the time football starts,” Davis said Tuesday.
He said some bushes have been removed from the front of the elementary building, some landscaping has been done and grass has been planted. He said the retention pond at the middle school/high school has some clogging problems that are being fixed, and that the hill between the middle school/high school and elementary school has been mowed and trimmed.
Board president Bill Myers asked about the food truck that provides summer meals to local children, and Davis said that the last time he checked, food director Jessica Walker said more than 400 meals were being served daily.
With the start of the school year less than a month away, the following open house schedules have been set, according to the school district website:
• Sixth grade – Wednesday, Aug. 8 from 4-6 p.m.
• High school/middle school – Thursday, Aug. 9 from 4-6 p.m.
• Elementary school – Thursday, Aug. 9 from 5-7 p.m.
The website also offers the following information for preschool and kindergarten screenings at Hillsboro Elementary for the 2018-19 school year:
• Preschool – Screenings will be held on Aug. 15, 16 and 17. Half the students will attend school on Aug. 20 and the other half of the students will attend school on Aug. 21. All preschool students will attend school on Aug. 22.
• Kindergarten – Screenings will be held on Aug. 15, 16 and 17. Girls only attend school on Aug. 20 and boys only attend school on Aug. 21. All Kindergarten students will attend school on Aug. 22.
On Monday, the board approved the following certificated positions, contingent upon a satisfactory background check and proper certification: Mary Lee Daugherty, middle school reading specialist; Elizabeth Denton, middle school intervention specialist; Tracey Staggs, middle school technology teacher; and Stella Wardlow, middle school math teacher.
The board also approved the following classified positions: Penny Carter, district secretary; and Michelle Clemons, aide.
A long list of sub certificated and sub classified positions was also approved.
Reach Jeff Gilliland at 937-402-2522 or [email protected].
