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To help with attendance and other issues this year, NS created a few new positions through funding of COVID relief money, TSSA, and the School Land Trust as allocated by the community council.
The new positions the school has put in place are a Bilingual School Community Liaison, Community Service Coordinator, SBO Advisor, and Attendance Tracker. A lot of these positions have to do with attendance and keeping the students at school to learn.
“I think the school is doing a good job; they definitely care about the progress of the students and their futures,” said Felipe Gonzalez, the Bilingual School Community Liaison for NS. “They are listening to the community and trying to solve their needs.”
One way NS is paying for these new positions at the school is through ESSER funds from the government and other high school funds. ESSER stands for Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief.
“We were able to get from the federal government ESSER funds,” said O’Dee Hansen, Assistant Superintendent for NS. “Those ESSER funds have allowed us to do a lot of different things with helping the stu- dents get past the pandemic, the depths because of the pandemic, and helping kids progress.”
These funds are given to each school district according to student enrollment and needs.
“ESSER funds were given to us because of the pandemic and it helps with after-school clubs and new positions we hire,” Hansen said. “Although it is only three years. Once it’s done they [the school district] will have to figure out what to do.”
The district has the funds for only three years, so they decided to take it and make the most out of it. They put out a survey for the community and asked them what they felt they should use the money for. The district looked for areas with the biggest need.
“There is a possibility some of that funding will continue,” Hansen said, “or the state of Utah will provide some different funding resources, grants that we are allowed to use for that same purpose. That’s kind of the hope.”
Every year the school district reevaluates and sees if they want to keep something. Then they will decide if they want to make room in the budget if it is beneficial to the school and if they have enjoyed having that new position. Although because it is only guaranteed for three years they need to take precautions.
“We had [the employees in new positions] sign a disclosure that they were aware and understood that this position was only guaranteed for three years,” Hansen said. “Then we will have to evaluate it obvi- ously with the intent to continue these programs.”
One of these new positions is a Bilingual School Community Liaison. Gonzalez was hired to reach out to Hispanic families in the area in an effort to help bridge the gap between our Spanish speaking families and the school.
“He is a native Spanish speaker and already from day one he has made a huge difference,” said Christy Straatman, principal of NS, “for our students, for our families, for our faculty and staff that work to support the kids.”
Gonzalez’s main task is to connect with parents and make appointments for them to come meet with counselors, and to help track attendance. He has also been translating documents to Spanish for the district.
The school was worried about all students attendance school from last year and the beginning of this year. That’s why they wanted to find someone to connect to them on a personal level and keep them in school. The parents who struggle with English now have someone to talk to.
“I’ve seen the parents so concerned and at the same time thankful,” Gonzalez said. “This mom the other day said that she was actually very thankful that we are doing this now in this high school.”
The next new addition to the school is a Community Service Coordinator, a position filled by Gene Blakely.
The NS admin added this new position to help students who have had discipline problems and to teach kids and correct behavior. He will take kids out and help them do community service around the school. Although that is not the only use of the community service.
Some new ways the admin is incorporating this community service is in lieu of minor incidents of suspension, kids who have NCs can attend the community service instead of going to ARC. Students who are having a difficult time paying their fees can meet with the administration to discuss the possibility of taking care of fees through service.
“The individual that we hired has a wonderful disposition and is going to do a wonderful job working with the kids,” Straatman said.
The school also now has a new assistant SBO adviser named Austin Ison to help the SBOs plan activities and help manage the school.
“I feel like it’s good to have a second advisor for SBOs because there is just another person to help check on things and manage stuff,” Ison said.
The school is also going to have a new Attendance Tracker. Teri Anderson will be returning to NS after taking last year off. She will be coming back soon and starting this new position at the school.
Tori Hansen, the attendance secretary, spends a lot of time in the school and making sure parents know their kid is missing school. Teri will spend most of her time out in the halls and outside. She will be the eyes and will focus on getting students back in class. Hansen said, “Part of the state law right now doesn’t hold kids as accountable for attendance and we can’t do a lot of punitive things to keep them in school.”
The school is going to take a proactive approach to attendance in hopes of keeping kids in school. Last year when they said they were going to hold kids harmless on their attendance that was one of the key moments they knew they needed to take action andfind ways to keep them in school.
The staff is happy to have all these new positions; they just want to help the students as much as possible.
