The health and well-being of the students of USD 257, the implied subject of every board of education meeting, was moved front and center at Monday’s powwow.
To begin, the board voted to engage the nursing services of the Community Health Center of Southeast Kansas. The recent retirement of longtime middle- and high-school nurse Jackie Chase presented the district with a decision about how best to move forward regarding its nursing needs.
It was determined, then, that instead of adding another individual to the district’s staff rolls, a contract arrangement with CHC would provide the best quality of care and would give the district access to the menu of resources and personnel at CHC’s command — including, in time, the services of social workers and mental health professionals.
The setup will provide for a permanent CHC trained and certified nurse to work from the Iola campus.
Another benefit of contracting with an established medical entity, explained Superintendent of Schools Stacey Fager, is that in the event of the unexpected absence — either short- or long-term — of the permanent nurse, CHC will send in a replacement, so that the district should never again have to pass a day in which a nurse’s care isn’t immediately at hand.
CHC will assume its role on the Iola campus in the coming days. The move will not affect Kim Peterson, who will continue in her role as nurse for the elementary schools.
Next, middle school counselor Stacey Crusinbery delivered to the board the occasionally sobering facts about bullying and substance abuse at USD 257.
The figures, gleaned from an anonymous survey completed by roughly 300 USD 257 students, are not wildly different from those drawn from districts of comparable size or from state averages.
On the whole, bullying has been on the decline since 2010, when the district first started tracking the phenomenon in a systematic way. Alcohol and tobacco use, as well as instances of suicidal ideation, are also on the mend, while illegal use of chemical inhalants has spiked.
The full results of the Kansas Communities That Care survey, which measures everything from rates of depression to illegal use of prescription drugs, can be viewed by visiting the county-by-county map at kctc.org.
Finally, Jefferson Elementary School will soon witness a change at the top when principal Lori Maxwell resigns her position at the end of the year.
Other personnel changes include: the retirement of Lincoln Elementary School counselor, Barbara Sherrill, and Iola Middle School art teacher, Joyce Atkinson; as well as the resignations of McKinley Elementary Title I teacher, Emily Williams, and middle school volleyball coach, Korene Whitcomb.
