JAY – In what Superintendent Robert Wall deemed “an essential position,” the role of coordinator was the hot topic at Thursday night’s School Committee meeting.

Sparked by committee member Mary Luce’s concern over the type of service the coordinator would offer and to whom, Wall reported that the elementary school is well on its way toward the state mandated literacy goals, but also admitted that it needs to be a kindergarten-to-12th-grade initiative.

“We need to work up through middle school and high school,” he said.

Luce said that currently the elementary school has four literacy coordinators, while the middle school has one and the high school remains without.

Wall also admitted that the job description of the new coordinator would not include a direct service with the students and that it would be a resource to the faculty.

“The faculty needs resources and in service opportunities,” said Wall.

Luce recommended that the job description be altered for the students and that they benefit from the expertise of the coordinator as well.

Wall responded, “We already have plenty of experts within the classroom.”

Curriculum Coordinator Joe Makley agreed that building a literacy program was a necessity and that the school was mandated to do so. “There will be a change in practice that imbeds literacy as a core function,” said Makley.

In other business, board members raised the price of high school breakfast from 75 cents to $1. The increase is due to the increasing cost of ingredients. Wall also reported that currently the elementary and middle schools were not eligible for free/reduced breakfast, but that could very well change come October. The loss of the eligibility is attributed to lack of students meeting the criteria and a low rate of returned applications for the free/reduced meal.

School board members also accepted the nomination of more than 16 different positions within the school community and the athletic program, and also regretfully accepted the resignation of Anne Rogers as Title 1 math educational technician III and Jennifer Tanous as high school library/media specialist.

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