Holbrook District Nears Limit For Special Education Services

By Linda Kor
   Every school district is required to offer special education accommodations for students in need of those services and according to Special Education Director LeeAnne Morris, the Holbrook School District is close to state limitations.
   “We currently have 239 unduplicated students receiving services out of the five schools in the district,” Morris explained at the Nov. 18 district governing board meeting. “That comes to 11.4 percent of our stu-dent population receiving services for anything from multiple needs to speech therapy.”
   According to Morris, the state allows for no more than 12 percent of a district’s students to be enrolled for special services.
   “We’re pretty close and I’m really pleased that we can provide these services for the students who need them,” stated Morris.
   Included in that figure are students enrolled in Triumph School, Phenix School and the Holbrook Jun-ior High School alternative school.
   “Because the Triumph School is set up for a different population of students, we have no students en-rolled there who have special education needs, those would be enrolled in the Phenix School,” Morris re-lated.
   These programs offer a lot of opportunity for success to the students who participate.
   “Last year we had 11 fifth year seniors earn their regular diploma. We had one individual who was 21 years old in special education who wanted to earn her diploma in order to be employed at a job she had applied for, in which a diploma was required,” Morris stated. “She was able to reach that goal in order to better her life. It was quite an accomplishment. Those stories aren’t told enough, and I think many people just think students are participating for negative reasons.”
   In other business Nov. 18, the board:
   * Approved the district’s 2008-09 Gifted Scope and Sequence.
   * Approved Study Island for a 60-day review as a potential supplemental program for Arizona Instru-ment to Measure Standards (AIMS) preparation at Indian Wells Elementary School.
   * Approved a tax credit account for the Holbrook Junior High School Newspaper Club.
   * Approved the implementation of new regulations for employee retirement savings.
   * Approved an intergovernmental agreement with the Navajo County Probation Department for a school probation officer for HJHS.
   * Held the first reading of policy changes recommended by the Arizona School Boards Association (ASBA) regarding the immunization of teachers and students, the exclusion of a pediculosis (head lice) case until the case is treated with a pediculocide, English instruction, bidding/purchasing procedures and admission of transfer students.
   * Held the first reading of policy changes recommended by ASBA pertaining to staff and professional staff conduct. Recent legislative changes require a public school employee or applicant who is arrested for or convicted of an offense that would preclude the individual from receiving a fingerprint clearance card to immediately notify his or her current or prospective employer of such an arrest or conviction.
   * Approved the district’s application for the 2009-10 Federal E-Rate Grant. This will provide reim-bursement for telecommunications and Internet access, as well as maintenance on the equipment. The dis-trict will match 80 percent of the funding required.
   * Approved the revised First Year Classified Staff Hourly Pay Rate Schedule for Northern Arizona Vocational Institute of Technology (NAVIT) drivers, since they are now required to qualify for a commer-cial driver’s license. This raises the drivers’ pay grade from Grade 7 to Grade 15.
   * Approved a letter of support to the City of Holbrook and the Navajo County Health Department ap-plications for Safe Routes to School grants.
   * Approved the Declaration of Curricular and Instructional Alignment to the Arizona Academic Stan-dards and authorized the board president to sign the declaration.
   * Approved for 60 day review the K-6 Bully Free Program materials presented by Dr. Allan Beane to be implemented in classrooms to enhance the learning environment at the elementary schools.
   * Approved the classified employment of Leslie Laird, Park Elementary School attendance clerk; Christine Smith, preschool aide; Sonya John, IWES cafeteria satellite worker; Zandra Begay, IWES substi-tute cafeteria satellite worker; Marc Lozano, bus driver; and Sylvia Mike, custodian.
   * Approved the classified staff resignation of bus driver Jason Rodgerson.
   * Approved extra duty for Nikki Mondragon and Jennifer Jackson, Park School Character Counts sponsors; Michelle Bradley, HJHS head volleyball coach; Kristen Tremonti, HJHS assistant volleyball coach; and Debra Thomas, Holbrook High School color guard.
   * Approved professional leave for the following individuals: Michael Saline, Law Related Education Academy held Oct. 14-17 in Flagstaff at an estimated cost of $300 plus a district vehicle; Dana Hendrix, Timothy Eddings, Colleen Tretton and Vicky Craig, Show Low, Traumatic Brain Injury training held Nov. 20 at an estimated cost of a district vehicle; Barbara Foree, International Reading Conference scheduled Feb. 21-25 in Phoenix at an estimated cost of $1,198.28 plus a district vehicle; Susan Nafziger, banquet dinner held Oct. 25 at Hon-Dah Casino at an estimated cost of a district vehicle; Connie Gover, Developing Behavior Plans held Nov. 11 in Scottsdale at an estimated cost of $363; Linda McMahon, Lhindah Straw, Andrea Tomlin, Ramona Joe, Beverly Guzzo and Marissa Decker, Reading and Writing for Para-Educators held Oct. 30-31 in Gallup, N.M., at an estimated cost of $2,137.62 plus a district vehicle; Stephanie Lynn, Stephanie Peters, Cindy Percy and Dean McNamee, Navajo Youth Summit held Nov. 3 in Snowflake at an estimated cost of a district vehicle; and Charles Haussman, Tech Prep and Career and Technical Education Local Directors meeting held Nov. 4 and 5 in Prescott at an estimated cost of $205 plus a district vehicle.
   Sally O’Dell, Fall Arizona Association of School Business Officials Fixed Assets held Oct. 31 in Phoenix at an estimated cost of $107; Fonda Charlie, Accelerated Second Language and Literacy Devel-opment scheduled Dec. 8 in Mesa at an estimated cost of $462.68; Karen Estridge, Jennifer Smith, Anne Johnson and Virginia White, Accelerated Minds with Language held Nov. 13-15 in Phoenix at an estimated cost of $2,916 plus a district vehicle; Sunny Obren, Arizona State Public Information Network Meeting held Nov. 6 in Phoenix at an estimated cost of $38 plus a district vehicle; Cindy Percy, The Box-Service Learning scheduled Dec. 2 in Phoenix at an estimated cost of $400 plus a district vehicle; and Mary Koury and Ferral Knight, 51st annual Arizona School Boards Association Conference scheduled Dec. 10-12 in Phoenix at an estimated cost of $1,218.85 plus a district vehicle.
   Beth Self, Heidi Hunsaker and Sarah Meeks, Arizona Music Educators Association In-Service Confer-ence to be held Jan. 9 and 10 in Mesa at an estimated cost of $396.20 plus a district vehicle; LeAnne Mor-ris, Cindy Farmer, Linda McMahon, Vicky Craig, Jack Pickett and Jon Hansen, Arizona Department of Education/Exceptional Student Services Indicator 13 Workshop held Nov. 10 in Payson at an estimated cost of a district vehicle; Faith Caffey, English Language Arts Leadership Team to be held Nov. 17 in Phoenix; Mary Koury, Arizona School Administrators meeting scheduled Nov. 25 in Mesa; Bob Dorsey, Sensory Integration and Sensory Processing to be held Dec. 16 in Flagstaff at an estimated cost of $171.50; and Teresa White, Career Tech meeting for NAVIT scheduled Nov. 18 in Snowflake.
   * Approved payroll and expense vouchers totaling $1,294,250.70, and expense and revolving fund vouchers totaling $168,211.85 and $284,835.86.