Social workers could fall under Janesville School District ax
In other business
In other business Tuesday the Janesville School Board:
-- Voted 9-0 to increase the kindergarten enrollment fee from $12 to $20, to bring it in line with fees for grades 1-5.
-- Accepted a retirement, effective Jan. 21, of Steven Thompson, alternative education teacher at Parker High School, after 34.5 years in the district.
-- Accepted the retirements, all effective June 10, of Parker English teacher Penelope Barwick, after 35 years; Susan Maine, fourth-grade teacher at Lincoln Elementary School, 38 years; Dale Nobiensky, first-grade teacher at Jefferson Elementary School, 34 years; and
-- Accepted the resignation, effective June 10, of fifth-grade Monroe Elementary teacher Heather Bennett, two years.
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Kristin L. Hesselbacher
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Yolanda Cargile
JANESVILLE — The Janesville School Board kept its options open and sent a message to four social workers: Your jobs are in jeopardy.
The result could be fewer professionals available next year to help the district's neediest students.
In a move not related to the performance of the workers, the board voted 8-1 to send the four "preliminary notices of nonrenewal."
Officials said the move was to keep options open as the board looks for ways to cut spending and balance the 2011-2012 budget.
Board member Kristen Hesselbacher fought to keep the positions. She said Janesville would have 65.5 social workers, counselors and psychologists if it followed federal Department of Education's recommendations, but as of last spring, the district was 20.5 positions short of that.
If anything, the district should be adding social workers, Hesselbacher said.
Wilson School lowered its truancy rate recently due to the efforts of its social worker, Hesselbacher said, and truancy is one of the top issues that principals are charged with improving.
Board members Peggy Sheridan and Karl Dommershausen said they want to keep the social workers but said they would vote for the motion to keep the district's options open.
Sheridan noted that the board still needs to vote on final notices of nonrenewal.
James Burns, a local clinical psychologist, wrote a letter to the school board arguing against cutting social workers.
"This is an unwise course, from my perspective professionally, because often social workers act as the first line of identification and intervention of mental illness in the school district," Burns wrote. "They offer skills that teachers, principals and other school officials simply do not have. These comments could also be made equally about guidance counselors and school psychologists."
Personnel director Steve Sperry said the decision was brought to the board early in part allow the workers to take jobs elsewhere.
WHAT SCHOOL SOCIAL WORKERS DO
Janesville School District Director of At-Risk and Multicultural Programs Yolanda Cargile said the district's 13 social workers are responsible for a wide range of duties that help the children who are most at risk, including:
-- Tracking down truants and getting them back to school. This may involve visiting last-known addresses and talking to parents. Police also locate truants, Cargile acknowledged, but schools need someone who knows each student's problems and works to solve them.
-- Finding students who don't show up for the fall enrollment count and getting them in school. If those students are not counted, the district loses state aid.
-- Working with students and parents to make sure the students get the help they need to function socially and emotionally. This may include getting them family counseling or conducting support groups. For instance, the district has support groups for students who lost a parent or who have parents who are incarcerated.
-- Connecting families who are dealing with poverty with social-service agencies, food banks or shelters.
-- Working on specific, grant-funded programs, such as Project Success, which pays for alcohol- and drug-prevention activities. The Project Success grant runs out in June. A grant focusing on homeless students runs through June 2012.
-- Maintaining files on students and their families to respond more efficiently to their needs.
Cargile said school psychologists and counselors do similar work in addition to their other duties.
Jan 14, 2011 at 7:04 a.m.
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I work for the school district. Social workers are the first line of defense for these kids and their families. Olderandornerier, they help parents find resources for their families-they talk to kids who are afraid to go home, they help kids who steal food because they don't know if they will eat for the weekend. They help kids figure out that its NOT ok to bully to get what you want, no matter what they see at school. Social Workers do A LOT. There was a comment in today's Gazette to cut Special Ed. Let's cut the BUS service for kids who are in that category. It cost and average of $7,000 PER child to bus them to a school that is not their home school. We have parents who use this service because they don't want to get up and take their child to school. We have families who one of their children are in that program and they drive their other child to the same school. So, why are they allowed to use that service? How about cutting that??
Jan 13, 2011 at 8:28 p.m.
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cut at least half the top salaries or just make them voluntary jobs!!! give all lower workers raises and let them use common sense to rule this will recharge morale and empower the class room teacher!!! maybe some of the top salaries people could get real life experience at the homeless shelter. wow that might hurt!!! things have to change.
Jan 13, 2011 at 7:09 p.m.
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frogger,
The answer to your question is a parent who does not have a permanent address; or a student who does not have a parent they live with on a steady basis. Our homeless population is larger than many think, considering the definition includes students who may move from place to place, such as an aunt's house or a family friend's, due to the lack of a permanent residence of their own.
Jan 13, 2011 at 6:01 p.m.
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Seems weird considering a guy just shot some people in AZ.
We need them if not more would be the better choice.
"last-known addresses and talking to parents"
Sounds like they may not have the current address. What a parent - not keeping the school up to date on WHERE they live.
Um jeremy"possible reason would we need more than one social worker per school?"
Lets take Craig for example. When I went there there were over 400 in the senior class. FIGURE IT OUT!
Jan 13, 2011 at 3:49 p.m.
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I think we do need social workers but not that many. I agree with MooShoo...ax Schulte
Jan 13, 2011 at noon
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From the job description in the article it sounds to me like these social workers don't do much. I would think a half dozen for the district would be more than enough.
Jan 13, 2011 at 9:28 a.m.
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...and I agree the cuts should start at the top. Positions directly affecting students should be the last to go.
Jan 13, 2011 at 9:25 a.m.
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I don't see anyone asking for lower taxes, and they already voted to raise our tax levy 3.17% when they passed the budget in October. I understand costs go up, and I'm all for a reasonable tax increase each year. The question in my mind is why should the tax payers bear the burden of an irresponsible school board? Look at all the money they've spent in the last 5 years on unnecessary things in a time of declining enrollment and a looming recession. Cuts should have been made when the enrollment started to decline. Its commons sense. That wasn't done, and they continued to spend in excess with no thought given to the future. Well, this mess is what that mentality created. Cuts have to be made and its not going to be pretty considering the district is facing a projected $10 million budget shortfall. Desperate times call for desperate measures. Why should I incur a large tax increase to pay for the school board's irresponsible decisions? If they had spent responsibly, made reasonable cuts each year enrollment declined, and increased taxes when they could and should have to begin with, we wouldn't be in this mess. Its not right now to ask already struggling families and business owners to pay for these mistakes.
Jan 13, 2011 at 9:13 a.m.
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Who is going to pick up the work of these social workers who will be cut? SW are vital and a must! They are as important to the children and families as the teachers are. Teachers and SW both carry a huge load. If the school district cuts the SW the teachers (I'm guessing) is going to carry that much more of a load and job duties which in return takes away from their job duties of teaching in our classrooms! As a SW for an agency who works with children and families, there is no way teachers will be able to provide the resources, serives, and case management to families the way SW's do. This is a bad decision on so many levels.
Jan 13, 2011 at 9:09 a.m.
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This would be a disservice to the students the social workers serve. Again, the cuts need to start from the top and work down. Beginning with Schulte's salary.
Jan 13, 2011 at 8:36 a.m.
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Jeremy the article says "65.5 social workers, counselors and psychologists if it followed federal Department of Education's recommendations, but as of last spring, the district was 20.5 positions short of that." Of those 65.5. There are 12 or 13 social workers the rest counselors and psychs
Jan 13, 2011 at 6:27 a.m.
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OK folks - what do you want? If you want lower taxes, then the schools (and the cities and counties and state) have to reduce services - sometimes important, essential services. "Cut my taxes" means "I don't care if I put people out of work - so long as I have a few more dollars in my pocket". or "I don't care if we pay substandard wages - so long as I get mine!".
Jan 13, 2011 at 5:31 a.m.
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So is this article saying that we have 40 social workers in the school district? For what possible reason would we need more than one social worker per school? I doubt these people are hardly saddled with ooodles of work, with the exception of the high schools. My opinion, get rid of more and for that matter reduce the number of alternative schools in the district.
Jan 13, 2011 at 12:18 a.m.
Jan 12, 2011 at 11:14 p.m.
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I think getting rid of social workers is an incredibly uneducated move! Does the school board and Schulte realize all the work that social workers do? Janesville's at-risk poplulation has continued to grow and due to the economic issues with this city, will continue to grow! What about all the work they do getting kids to come to school? The school district will probably lose quite a bit of money with students not coming in during the Friday count days. Sadly, our school have experienced several tragedies during the last few years-the murder of the Craig teacher, the murders of the Lentz family, the tragic car accident that took the lives of 3 high school students and many more. It's social workers that help students and staff deal with such sadness. There are so many more reasons to keep the social workers, I hope the school board will do so.
And yes, I'm all for getting rid of Schulte! I feel she has done a lot of damage to our school district!!
Jan 12, 2011 at 8:04 p.m.
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Ax Schulte.
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