(Red Oak) -- Red Oak school officials continued their participation in special education consortiums in the region.
During its regular meeting Monday night, the Red Oak School Board approved renewing the district's participation in the Southwest Iowa Apex Consortium through the Glenwood School District and the Children's Square Learning Center, and Heartland Family Service Therapeutic School through the Council Bluffs School District for the 2022-23 school year. Ron Lorenz is the Red Oak School Superintendent. Lorenz says several regional districts have participated in the programs for several years. He adds the Apex consortium is primarily focused on pooling resources for specialized needs.
"That's a specialized program for students with significant cognitive and behavioral needs located in Glenwood, and it serves member districts from across the region," said Lorenz. "It's something that allows us to pool resources and make sure we're providing the types of resources that the kids need. We probably couldn't provide those here in Red Oak at the same effectiveness, so that's why we participate in the consortium."
Additionally, Lorenz says the Children's Square and Heartland Family Services, while a slightly different focus, serves a similar purpose.
"It's just a renewal of something we've done for a long time, I think there are over three dozen area school districts that jointly administer those instructional, behavioral, and emotional support programs at Children Square and Heartland," said Lorenz. "They provide services to kids that just aren't available locally."
In related business, the board also approved in-person training for the Wilson Reading System with Apples of Gold Center on August 15-17 for special education staff. Lorenz says the training is critical to ensure students' needs are met within the district.
"It's a methodology to teach troubling readers how to read and it's something we've been using pretty effectively for the past school year and our special ed teachers, particularly our title teachers, wanted some additional training," said Lorenz. "So we were able to arrange that and provide that, and we're optimistic that that's going to help us go even further in terms of helping those kids develop those essential reading skills."
While special education staffing is one of the more significant needs for districts across the state, Lorenz says his school district is fortunate to be fully staffed ahead of the upcoming school year.
In other business, the board...
--Approved Fundations and Just Words training with Learning Techniques for in-person training at Inman August 17-19 for K-6 classroom teachers and Title teachers for $10,500.00 plus travel expenses to be determined.
--Approved the second reading of board policies requiring revisions based on recent legislative action: 203; 403.2; 501.12; 501.13; 505.5; 505.R1; 506.5; 607.2; 805; 805R1.
--Approved the hiring of Tristin Johnson as HS Football Assistant Coach, Juan Ramos as Jr High School Girls Basketball Coach, John Allison as Jr High School Volleyball Coach, Christy Rea as IT Support Specialist, Kristina Chilton, and Jewell Moore as Inman Elementary TLC Mentors, Jordyn Moore, and Cassandra Culbertson as Para-Professionals at ROECC all for the 2022-23 school year, and Amanda Deitering as Para-Professional as ROECC for the 2022-2023 school year pending background check.
--Approved the resignations of Amanda Serna as Para-Professional effective August 1st, 2022, Lindsay Blaine as Para-Professional effective July 17th, 2022, and Ashley York as Para-Professional effective July 29th, 2022.
--Renewed a three-year license and service agreement with Filament Essential Services for the district website.
--Approved the 2022-2023 Teachers' Handbook, Jr./Sr. High School Handbook, Inman Elementary Handbook, and ROECC Handbook.
Lorenz made his comments on KMA's 7:05 newscast and you can hear the full interview below:
