Monett school board approves contracts, handbooks

The Monett school board approved personnel additions, contracts and handbooks during its meeting on July 31.
Three classified staff members submitted resignations and seven people were hired for the coming year. Four of these were substitutes in the bus driving, food service, and custodial departments. Two behavior interventionists/paraprofessionals, Jacqueline Grider and Alexis Waltrip, were hired for the Monett Regional Learning Center. Hser Say transferred to serve as the district migrant liaison for all grades.
The district hired LL Vision Services of Branson to provide orientation and mobility, as well as teaching students with visual impairments, for the school year. Lisa Long, certified in those skills, will provide those services at a rate of $115 an hour, including travel time.
Second Mile School Therapy of Springfield was hired to provide and perform occupational therapy throughout the district, including staff instruction. Cost of the two-year agreement would be $79 an hour, a $5-an-hour reduction from the one-year agreement price.
Cooperative agreements were approved for districts participating in the Monett Regional Learning Center for autism and behavior issues. Aurora, Mt. Vernon, Verona, Cassville, Pierce City, Wheaton, and Purdy will send students to Monett for those services.
Handbooks approved
The new employee handbook was adopted. A new high school activities handbook outlining requirements to participate in extra-curricular activities was also adopted, along with the student discipline handbook. Board member Annie Smith observed there had been good conversations outlining how searches for weapons or drugs would work. Superintendent Dr. Mark Drake recounted cases where students refused searches, resulting in immediate suspensions. He noted staff only need “a reasonable suspicion” to insist on a search, such as smelling THC from marijuana. All searches would be done by at least two people.
The major change in the handbook stemmed from the new state law banning the use of cell phones, which would run from bell to bell. Drake said the district hoped to avoid buying the Yondr pouches, costing $30 each, with a magnetic locking system that many schools are using to guarantee no phone use. The biggest change would be for the three upper high school grades, since incoming middle school students already had a cell phone quarantine.
Board members will take up a related policy proposed through the Missouri School Boards Association at its next meeting on Aug. 21. Assistant Superintendent Dr. Isaac Sooter noted the policy also prohibits Smart watches, but added the district did not intend to pursue that unless students used the watches for communication or became a classroom issue. Drake noted that the state law also bans the use of personal computers. Since each student has a school-issued device, that should suffice for any use, including taking college courses, without involving other personal devices.
New suicide directives in district
The handbook also had a new section outlining steps district employees should take if they have a reasonable belief that a student may be at risk of suicide. It directed staff to find another employee and locate the student immediately. With one person staying with the student, the other would contact the Critical Response Team. If no one was available, the parent or guardian would be contacted, and if they were also unavailable, emergency services should be contacted. Steps for how the Critical Response Team should react were also outlined.
A new section was also added for monitoring students attending classes virtually. This included the following directive: “To the extent possible, the superintendent or designee will work with the teachers hired by Missouri Course Access and Virtual School Program providers to solicit information about the social and emotional health of the virtual learners in their courses.”