The Wright City R-II school board recently approved adding three full-time positions for the 2023-2024 school year.
The Wright City R-II board voted 5-0 to approve adding the full-time …
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The Wright City R-II school board recently approved adding three full-time positions for the 2023-2024 school year.
The Wright City R-II board voted 5-0 to approve adding the full-time positions for next school year. The district reached pre-COVID attendance numbers and anticipates growth in the future.
The board approved hiring a full-time STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) teacher. The teacher will be placed at West Elementary.
“While we’ve done a great job of keeping up with classrooms, we have fallen a little behind when it comes to our specialty teachers,” Wright City R-II Assistant Superintendent Dr.Jeremy Way said. “So right now, we have the librarian, P.E. art, music that all travel between East and West. And so, we’re trying to close some of those gaps … by getting some more specialty teachers for next year.”
The other two positions will each work in two separate roles in the district. One position will serve as an assistant principal and interventionist. A second position will serve as a librarian and interventionist. Both positions will split half their time on each duty.
The district paid for some interventionists with Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds over the past couple years. With the funds going away, the district wants to continue providing the same level of interventionists in the district. The district also is adding an assistant principal position at half-time to meet staffing ratios outlined in a Missouri School Improvement Program recommendations.
Wright City R-II board President Austin Jones foresees turnover with the assistant principal and interventionist position. He believes individuals possessing an administrative degree will seek a full-time administrative role.
“I’m just worried that you’re going to see churn in that particular position because of the individual wanting to get some experience as an admin and then applying for admin jobs somewhere else,” Jones said.
Board member Mary Groeper noted the district often sees turnover with full-time administrative positions anyway.
Way said there will be a time when the district looks to turn the position into an assistant principal on a full-time basis. He believes this will happen sooner rather than later. He added the district has employees in house who could fill the position next school year. The district has a group of current educators that are part of the district’s aspiring administrators group.
“We have quite a few in the pipeline that could possibly take over for something like this,” Way said. “That’s who we’d be looking for probably in this first year.”
Way said the district’s numbers will dictate how long the position is a half-time assistant principal and half-time interventionist.
Superintendent Dr. Chris Berger anticipates the three positions will cost the district approximately $200,000. He stressed administration could recommend adding more positions prior to the 2023-2024 school year.
“We could bring some additional FTEs (Full-Time Employees) in the spring but that will be calculated against how much revenue we’re going to have and what we want to do with our current staff,” Berger said.
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