By Patrick Adrian
Staff Writer
CHARLESTOWN — The Fall Mountain Regional School Board decided to keep funding for a Charlestown school social worker in the district’s proposed 2020-2021 budget, following a discussion on Wednesday, but will consider alternative recommendations from the town for how to deliver the services.
The Fall Mountain Regional School Board approved the proposed operating budget of $32.9 million and six additional warrant articles for the 2021-2022 school year Thursday night. The proposal increases the operating budget by 1.41%, or $456,806 from the current year.
In Charlestown, which has the largest student enrollment and tax burden among the district’s five partnering communities, the proposed operating budget would have a tax rate impact of $4.20, or $4.55 if combined with the new teacher’s contract.
Though new spending in the proposal is relatively low, according to district administrators, the budget includes $80,000 for the hire of a school social worker in Charlestown. According to Fall Mountain finance director James Fenn, a school social worker holds a clinical license and is certified to make clinical diagnoses, administer therapeutic services and work closely with outside agencies, such as the Charlestown Police Department.
But some Charlestown residents have raised questions, including at a public hearing last week for the budget proposal, whether the town was better suited to provide this position than the school district.
“In discussions with our police chief, this is a community-wide problem [in Charlestown],” said Alissa Bascom, a Charlestown parent and resident. “What we would like to do is wrap [the position] with the families and the schools and serve from a bigger circle. If it is a school position it does not necessarily reach to the community in the same way.”
Charlestown Police Chief Patrick Connors clarified in an interview with the Eagle Times that he supported the idea of having a social worker in the school but has not expressed any preference regarding which institution would oversee those services.
“We have a lot of kids who could use some advocacy and someone supporting them in that type of role,” Connors said.
Connors noted that the lack of a social worker puts an additional strain on Charlestown’s school principals, who have undertaken many of a social worker’s responsibilities, including student advocacy and communications with families and local agencies, atop their regular duties.
It does not matter to Connors what governing body oversees the position or its funding, but the needs and benefits from those services are evident, the police chief said.
Some Charlestown Selectmen mentioned an interest in exploring town-level solutions, such as contracting social workers through a local agency, such as West Central Behavioral Health in Claremont.
Bascom asked the school board to allow the town time to explore options before hiring a school social worker.
“Our police, fire and rescue and service agencies know where the families are who are in need of this service,” Bascom explained to the school board. “If it can come from the Town of Charlestown, the children can be served after hours [as well as] during school hours.”
Fall Mountain Regional School Board members said they were receptive to a “hybrid” position, a social worker whose funding is shared by the district and town and who works both inside and outside the school. School officials noted examples of crossover roles among both school-employed and outside social workers. Fenn said that school social workers usually have to work with outside agencies, including police and welfare departments, to perform their job. Fall Mountain Regional School Board member Sarah Vogel of Acworth said that some schools in Vermont have forged effective partnerships with community based social workers.
But a school-employed social worker also has advantages, officials said.
Financially speaking, only a school-employed clinical social worker can bill through Medicaid for reimbursement when providing services to students with Individualized Education Plans (IEPs), according to Fenn. A town-employed social worker would not be eligible for that reimbursement.
Additionally, school social workers have more legal authority to work with children in school than outside providers, said Fall Mountain Regional School Board Chair Michael Herrington.
“Outside the school, the parent would have to give permission for a clinician of a town or anyone to work with their child,” Herrington said. “I’ve noticed that [many parents] won’t give that permission. They do not want people involved in their lives anymore than they have to be and they draw lines.”
The Fall Mountain Regional School Board decided to secure the position’s funding now but continue discussions with Charlestown over the next year regarding the position’s future role and funding.
“I would hate to miss out on a year that we may need that social worker in there,” said Fall Mountain Regional School Board member Scott Bushway of Charlestown.
“We would need to be keeping the money in the budget for that position [while] having discussion this year,” Vogel said. “Otherwise, we’re going to spend another year talking about it rather than have something in place.”
The Fall Mountain Regional School Board briefly discussed the possibility to find an additional $80,000 in budget cuts to offset the expense of the position. Superintendent Lori Landry said that all the schools have made reductions and sacrifice needs this year in knowing the priority of a social worker in Charlestown.
“This position was one of our top priorities,” Landry said. “There were many things in the budget that we took out to support having a social worker . . . Each one of our building administrators said it had to be in the budget and there were other things that they would live without.”
Fall Mountain Regional School Board members, while recognizing the pandemic’s fiscal impact on Charlestown, said the pandemic’s adverse impacts on children and families makes this social worker position more important now than ever.
“We’ve been trying to get this social worker in here for years, and every year it seems we cut it out,” said Fall Mountain Regional School Board Vice-Chair Mary Henry, of Langdon. “I know it adds a lot to Charlestown’s bottom line but if it helps keep kids in school and not being sent out because we can’t deescalate a situation, it’s worth every penny.”
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