By GLYNIS HART
[email protected]
NEWPORT — The Newport School Board gave the green light to administrators looking to hire someone who can help integrate technology into the curriculum, and three behavior specialists to help students struggling with mainstream classrooms.
At the May 24 meeting, Superintendent Cindy Gallagher explained the need for an “innovative coordinator” who would help integrate technology into the curriculum, assist teachers with learning and using new tech, and teach some tech courses. The position would draw a salary around $55,000.
Board member Virginia “Biddy” Irwin asked if the position is required by the state. It is not.
“Tech integrators came in a little more than a decade ago,” explained board member Ann Spencer. “It’s a curricular position that also does a lot of professional development, to help teachers teach what kids need to know in terms of technology.’
Board member Russ Medbury said it is “to weave tech pieces into the classes so it becomes seamless. My understanding is, if we just have a class for technology, students are like, ‘Why?’”
“It would be both tool and curriculum,” said Gallagher. “We have lots of tools but we still use them like it’s 1972. We’re looking at innovation, not just tech integration. It’s broader than just tech; some of their work may not require touching a computer or an app.”
Irwin asked for some corrections to the job description before it was posted.
The district is also seeking behavior specialists to work with the new resource room for children with behavioral difficulties causing them to be pulled out of the regular classrooms. Richards Elementary School Principal Phil Banios explained the need as three-part: “Meeting students’ needs; preventing disruption in the classroom; keeping students in the district instead of sending them out for services.”
Banios said these would be “support professionals who work with behavioral students. There’s some academia involved, but we’re looking for people who have the ability to implement direct service and behavioral plans and work with children with identified socio- and emotional needs, provide support in and out of the classroom, and make our programming successful by keeping the ratio of adult to child pretty small, which is what you need to do when you’re working with children with these challenges.”
“Our goal is for those students to become successful and move them full time back into the classroom as soon as they have demonstrated the capacity to do so,” said Banios. “We want to stop the cycle of students repetitively year after year showing up in our data as having issues throughout the building.
“I think it behooves us to intervene with these students intensively at the youngest possible age, where we know research and practical experience tells us we have the best chance of turning that around.”
Irwin initially objected to the job description, as it lacked an educational requirement. Banios said that was intentional because they are looking for ability and experience, and requiring a degree might lock the district into something they can’t afford.
Gallagher said, “We can add ‘bachelor’s preferred.’”
Irwin commented, “We’ve always had behavioral specialists. Every time the budget gets tight, we cut them. Which is wrong.”
Lead tests shut down some school fountains
In his report, Business Administrator George Caccavaro said 76 out of 200 sites — including fountains and sinks — in all five Newport schools failed the state-required test for lead. Lead can leach into water from old pipes, solder at joints, or other sources.
According to the NH Department of Environmental Services, “Studies continue to demonstrate that even low blood lead levels negatively impact cognitive abilities, speech and language development, hearing, visual-spatial skills, attention, emotional regulation, and motor skills.” More than 1,000 New Hampshire children are poisoned by lead every year.
The fountains, faucets etc. that failed the lead test will be turned off and blocked with signs and/or caution tape. Meanwhile, Caccavaro emphasized that every building has potable water.
“We’ve filed a report with the state telling them what we’re going to do to remediate it,” he said. “You replace the faucets first and work your way back.”
The district will apply for a state grant to pay 50 percent of the schools’ costs for remediation.
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