MONSON — The School Committee approved at its July 17 meeting the job description for its new Monson High School dean of students/director of counseling position, which will effectively replace the previous assistant principal position.
Superintendent Cheryl Clarke explained the current labor contract already includes dean of students and director of counseling positions, so the proposal presented to the committee would essentially allow one person to assume both existing roles. Because of this, there would be no impact on the budget,
“It’s really based on the needs of the school the social-emotional needs of the kids. A lot of the discipline is the seventh and eighth grade kids, but it’s really not strict discipline; it’s like, ‘How can we help you act appropriately?’ and social-emotional concerns. [Grades] 9-12, it’s more just making sure you’re following the polices that [Principal Christopher Fontaine] and his staff have put in place,” she said. The combining of the roles, she added, was intended to “marry these two to hold kids accountable but also be there to support them and what they need.”
Clarke also made mention of the large number of incoming new educational and counseling staff who will also require support.
The specific duties with regard to the dean of students aspect of the position, such as instructional leadership and operations and management, had already been approved by a committee when developing the previous role, while aspects of the description of the director of counseling roles and responsibilities were taken from “various sources” and tailored to match what Fontaine identified as the school’s needs, Clarke explained.
Addressing committee concerns about the breadth of the responsibilities and questions about when the principal would be involved in discipline, Clarke said the amount of work was “doable.”
“This is kind of the model I utilized when I went up to the high school in March,” she said, referring to the abrupt resignation of former Principal Arthur Murphy and Assistant Principal Kate Czarnieck that forced her and Counselor Maria Barnes to take over maintainance of daily operations at the high school. “I asked Mrs. Barnes to come with me because she had dean experience and also she is a very experienced counselor and it really was a great model … any heavy discipline, bullying investigations, things like that [and] decisions in that respect would fall to the principal. That would be the case anyway; the dean would not suspend.”
She added the dean of students portion of the job description was based off the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education rubric but with the addition of counseling responsibilities, some items were removed.
Clarke reiterated the importance of the shift, calling the assistant principal position more of a strictly punitive role.
During her report, Clarke noted the growth of the department’s participation in the Summer Eats program. Summer Easts is a federal nutrition program designed to provide children access to healthy food for fee throughout the summer when school is not in session. Clarke said in the first seven days of service, the schools had distributed 574 breakfasts and 837 lunches. She added that the department has shifted to offering only fresh fruits and vegetables, many sourced from local farms.
Clarke also announced the annual bus tour would return for its 10th year on Aug. 20. Clarke established the initiative as a means for easily distributing supplies for the upcoming school year to students and families. The locations for this year’s tour have yet to be determined.
On Aug. 27, Monson Public Schools will host the Monson High School barbecue as well as the transporation night for kindergarten students to become acclimated with riding a bus.
